On 19 November ECHAMP member delegations from 17 EU countries visited the European Parliament and Permanent Representations in Brussels for meetings with 32 MEPs and three health attachés.

The extensive contact programme built on the success of a similar exercise in November 2008 which resulted in a significant number of concrete and effective follow-up actions, such as the tabling of Parliamentary Questions by MEPs and the hosting of the second EU Homeopathy Day by Marian Harkin MEP, held in April.

As last year, the ECHAMP country delegations visited MEPs and health attachés of their specific countries, as experience shows that this facilitates clear communication and easier recognition of the issues.

The aims of the contact programme were fourfold:

• to inform the MEPs and attachés of the impact of the current EU legislation on homeopathic and anthroposophic medicinal products, the main shortcomings of this legislation and ECHAMP’s main concerns
• to suggest concrete improvements to this legislation
• to win the support of the MEPs and attachés for ECHAMP’s cause
• to build a personal contact and cooperation in case of review of the current legislation in the (near) future.

During the meetings, the ECHAMP delegations provided some general information on homeopathic and anthroposophic medicinal products. They focused on the long-standing European tradition of these therapies, and on the fact that over 100 million Europeans make use of these products. Moreover, it was underlined that the industry for homeopathic and anthroposophic medicinal products represents 1% of the European pharmaceutical and 7% of the European non-prescription market.

However, the main issue conveyed to the policy makers was the fact that patients, doctors and practitioners are being denied access to the medicines of their choice; this is despite the close alignment of homeopathy and anthroposophic medicine with many of the goals of the European Commission’s strategy for improving health in the EU. This is due to an increasingly non-harmonised EU legal and regulatory framework – which clearly needs to be changed. Therefore, the urgent requirement for better regulation of homoeopathic and anthroposophic medicinal products in the short term was underlined. 

More specifically, MEPs and health attachés were asked for their support for proposals to revise the relevant articles in Directive 2001/83/EC and to enlarge the chapter on homeopathic medicinal products in Directive 2003/63/EC with requirements specific to the characteristics of these products. In addition, MEPs and health attachés were urged to support a call on Member States to set up a common and affordable programme to bring products already on the market into an appropriate regulatory framework, while maintaining fees at an acceptable level and involving stakeholders in this field. Delegates left with the MEPs a copy of the ECHAMP’s new publication outlining its goals, ‘Homeopathic and anthroposophic medicinal products - A call to action: Legislative term 2009-2014 of the European Parliament and the European Commission’. 

In general, the meetings were constructive, helpful and effective. Most MEPs and their assistants seemed interested and offered their support, by making use of the various advocacy and policy tools that they have at their disposal. More concretely, many offered to table critical questions to the Commission and Council of Ministers, host meetings, and put forward amendments to relevant Commission proposals.

It is now up to ECHAMP to make the best possible use of these ‘open doors’ in a pro-active and constructive manner.

Christine Marking
ECHAMP Public Affairs Consultant