Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL laying a framework for strengthening the availability and security of supply of critical medicinal products as well as the availability of, and accessibility of, medicinal products of common interest, and amending Regulation (EU) 2024/795

 underlines that medicine security should be integrated into the EU’s defence strategy and funding, enabling accelerated investments in local production, increased preparedness for future health crises, and stable access to medicines across Member States; is convinced that maintaining uninterrupted production of medicines has a direct impact on regional, national and European security and calls for clear recognition of the importance of health security within the European Defence Industrial Strategy;

 calls on the co-legislators to explicitly recognise the role of regional authorities and include them in the evaluation of strategic projects to properly capture regional expertise, priorities and needs in project evaluations;

 calls on the Member States to guarantee that designated authorities take into account local and regional environmental land use restrictions and rules;

 calls on the regions to develop, upskill, and re-skill a dedicated workforce in pharmaceutical production and medicine shortage management; urges regions, universities, vocational centres, hospitals, pharmacists’ organisations, and industry to create innovative apprenticeships and fund scholarships, fostering collaboration between academia and stakeholders; and invites the EU Commission to support these efforts through funding, cross-border coordination, and promotion of applied research in pharmaceutical production;

 calls for a decrease in the minimum number of Member States that can jointly request that the Commission procure on their behalf or in their name;

 supports the creation of an independent Critical Medicines Coordination Group involving consumers, patients, healthcare professionals and regional representatives from decentralised health systems.