Centre d'Excellence Europe Capitole

Often in the limelight and criticised during times of health scandal or crisis, the European Union’s room for manoeuvre differs according to whether it has to manage risk in epidemics (Ebola, Zika), manage cross-border health threats or crises, or ensure high standards of quality and safety of drugs and medical devices (Art. 168 §4c TFEU). Lawyers and healthcare professionals but also civil society, as appropriate, should be trained in or made aware of applicable European regulations and the role of agencies such as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), especially in providing scientific advice that could be seen as non-independent and influenced by industrial lobbies (disputed European Commission opinions on endocrine disruptors, positive opinions of the EFSA on the placing on the market of GMOs - what really happens?). More generally, there is a need to publicise the largely unknown respective powers of states and the European Union in these areas.