Commenting on new rules for clinical trials on medicinal products for human use in the European Parliament this afternoon, GUE/NGL MEP Alda Sousa welcomed the good results achieved by Parliament's rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs and said they deserved a positive vote.

However, she told Commissioner Borg, who was present in the Chamber, that if patients in Europe are better protected because of these new rules, it is largely due to improvements made by the European Parliament “as the original Commission proposal looked as if it had been written by the pharmaceutical industry”.

She added: “We succeeded in our efforts to improve the proposal to guarantee patients' rights, to guarantee transparency and to ensure the safety and rights of all those who are going to be involved in clinical trials. It is not from a perspective of competitiveness that we should deal with this but from a perspective of competence.”