28.
Ref. Ares(2015)1644728 - 17/04/2015
Ref. Ares(2017)1114743 - 02/03/2017
From:
Art. 4.1 (b)
(TRADE)
Sent:
17 April 2015 13:39
To:
(TRADE)
Art. 4.1 (b)
Cc:
(TRADE)
Subject:
FW:
Out of scope
A meeting took place on 16 April 2015, between the Standing Committee of European
doctors (CPME, Art. 4.1 (b)
and British Medical Association, ) and the Art. 4.1 (b)
Art. 4.1 (b)
and Art. 4.1 (b)
to discuss their concerns on health
issues in the context of TTIP. SCED made clear that they wish to close any possible tiny
loophole in the agreement and in particular they expressed concerns on the application
of ISDS on health services. They proposed a full carve-out of on health services from the
agreement to avoid such applications, as they said that following discussions with the F2
they understood that they cannot exclude the application of ISDS on health services.
Their concern stems from possible re-nationalisation efforts of the UK government in the
future and from the question whether following possible future extensive privatization
of the healthcare sector in UK it can still qualify as a public utility or a publicly funded
service (their assumption is that in the event of further privatisation of the NHS it
cannot be any longer considered as a public utility and therefore cannot be subject to
the public utility/publicly funded health services protection of the agreement). Given
that they only represent health professionals and not the entire health industry (i.e.
hospitals, providers of ambulance services) it was not possible for them to measure the
impact of an exemption from the application of the ISDS of the health services for
hospitals etc as in this case they would miss the benefits ensured through ISDS.COM
explained what we negotiate in market access in health services in TTIP and re-assured
SCED that there are no loopholes in the agreement. COM also opposed to any exclusion
of health services from the scope of TTIP and reminded them of the EU GATS
commitments. It was clear from the discussion that there are no genuine market access
concerns in health services but rather issues related to the application of ISDS. CPME
noted also some interest on regulatory issues, notably the fear of potential impact of
TTIP on the European Medicines Agency (EMA) policy on disclosure of clinical trials (CT)
data and on TTIP impact on the EU system for the approval of medical devices. COM
briefly explained which issues are being discussed on the pharmaceuticals and medical
devices sectorial discussions (as set in publically available position papers) and confirmed
that EMA policy on disclosure of CT data will not be questioned by TTIP. TTIP will also not
impact the revision of the EU legislation for medical devices currently on going nor the
way medical devices are authorized to be placed in the EU market.
Thank you,
Art. 4.1 (b)