What do we think the future EU-UK relationship should look like?

We share the Government’s ambition of making the UK a leading global hub for life sciences and an internationally competitive trading partner with the EU and the world. 

For us, securing our reputation as an attractive destination for global investment is key, but as an industry, our priority is a future trading relationship with the EU based on cooperation

We believe that the relationship between the UK and the EU should be based around three objectives:

  1. Ensuring UK and EU patients have uninterrupted supply of their current treatments and fast access to new medicines.
  2. Safeguarding the current high global regulatory standards and public health protections for medicines used to treat UK and EU patients.
  3. Retaining the UK’s position as a global leader in life sciences innovation and increasing its international influence in shaping life sciences policy.

To achieve this, there four key areas for negotiators on both sides to work within and reach a pragmatic and positive future relationship:

UK-EU Future Relationship

1

Medicines supply

It is essential that the new relationship between the UK and EU does not put unnecessary barriers to the supply of medicines to patients.

The ABPI is calling for:

  • A Mutual Recognition Agreement on Good Manufacturing Practice and batch testing to avoid unnecessary disruptions to supply chains and delays to patient access to medicine.
  • Clarification on the impact of the Northern Ireland Protocol to medicines and of the UK implementation of the Protocol in relation to medicines.
2

Patient safety

The UK must ensure that medicines are assessed and monitored according to robust, science-led, and globally harmonised regulatory standards that protect patient safety.

The ABPI is calling for:

  • A Mutual Recognition Agreement on Good Manufacturing Practice and batch testing to avoid duplication of work, reduce the risk of misalignment of quality data between regulators and most importantly, avoid delays in patient access to medicines.
  • Ongoing regulatory cooperation, such as input and access to patient safety databases, such as Eudravigilance and collaboration through established EU-3rd country regulatory authority clusters.
  • UK connectivity and access to EU databases that protect the safety of patients, including the European Medicines Verification System.
3

Science, research and people

The UK should maintain scientific collaboration and cooperation with the EU, the movement of skilled people it requires, and reinforce incentives for innovation.

We believe the UK should:

  • Fully participate in the Horizon Europe programme and continue to influence the EU research programmes as far as possible.
  • Ensure a transparent and mutually beneficial system for exchange of scientific talent, maintaining current systems such as the Intra-company Transfer process.
  • Maintain mutual recognition of professional qualifications.
  • Ensure that the UK IP framework remain the minimum accepted standard.
  • Seek continued free flow of personal data from the EU under both the General Data Protection Regulation and the Law Enforcement Directive.
4

Customs

Both sides should enable a system of zero tariffs for components of medicines production and research, along with simplified and precedent-based Rules of Origin requirements, to ensure the continuation of trade and manufacture of medicines.

We recommend the UK and EU:

  • Guarantee tariff liberalisation for all finished medicines, APIs and intermediates used in the manufacturing of medicine, research and clinical trials.
  • Establish rules of origin requirements simplified and based on common, defined chemical and pharmaceutical processing activities, similar to those agreed in EU and Canada