Medical devices in the EU political spotlight

摘要

When the responsibility for EU legislation on medical devices and pharmaceuticals was transferred from the European Commission's directorate general responsible for industry (DG Enterprise) to that for public health and consumers (DG Sanco) in 2009, concerned stakeholders frequently asked me what impact this might have. Industry representatives were concerned that their views would not be understood as clearly as before given the loss of focus on enterprise. Public health campaigners were worried that DG Sanco might lose interest or lack resources for health promotion once it had control of the important directives and regulations governing healthcare products. For many civil servants and politicians, however; it was logical that the DG in charge of health policy should be responsible for the EU's health legislation.