Steep Rise In Swiss Health Care Costs

European Union member states finally agreed on February 8 to the regulation setting the fees for the new European Medicines Evaluation Agency in London. The new regulation took effect on February 10.

As agreed by EU Ambassadors, the regulation requires the EMEA to provide estimates of its likely fee income and expenses for the year ahead in an annual budget submission, so that the EU Commission can estimate the amount of subsidy that it will require from EU funds. The Agency will not be required to pay back any surplus in revenues to the general EU budget.

The fee level was agreed in December, but the budgeting procedures became bogged down in discussion in the European Parliament, which only gave its view at its plenary session in January. It wanted greater budgetary control and transparency in EMEA expenditure, as well as the return to general EU funds of any surplus. In early February, the Commission modified the draft regulation to take account of most of the Parliament's wishes.