UK And EMA Could Work Together Informally After Brexit

Bart Van Vooren and Peter Bogaert are quoted by The Pink Sheet in an article regarding the future relationship between the UK and the European Medicines Agency following Brexit. According to Van Vooren, the EU "considers that cherry-picking the benefits of the internal market on a sector-by-sector basis, combined with a request to be able to influence the rules, will have a negative impact on the EU and its legal system as a whole. A very large former member state that wants to be involved in law-making processes would likely have a significant voting weight. This would set a dangerous precedent for EU integration."

Bogaert says, "I think you have to distinguish between the legal and political aspects of UK participation in EMA. Overall there is not really a legal impediment to having the UK taking part, so ultimately it becomes a political question. I certainly wouldn't give up hope that it might happen and I do think it would be very good for both the EMA and the MHRA, and especially for the pharmaceutical regulatory regime."

"My feeling is that the EU for the moment adopts a strict black and white approach, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of those sharp corners were rounded off later on," Bogaert adds. "My gut feeling is that ultimately we will probably have some room for flexibility. Whether this will be enough to allow active participation in the EMA, I don't know, but I wouldn't exclude it."