Brussels 31 January 2020 - After almost two years of uncertainty, the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement was finally approved by the United Kingdom’s House of Commons and became law on 23 January 2020. Shortly after, on 29 January 2020, the European Parliament followed along and ratified the agreement.

MedTech Europe welcomes the mutual ratification of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement by the UK and EU Parliaments. This mutual ratification allows for a transition period of at least one year (until 31 December 2020, unless extended) while the United Kingdom and the European Union work together on a trade agreement that will define their future relationship.

As the trade association representing the medical device and diagnostic industries, MedTech Europe believes that medical technologies should remain a priority item in the ongoing trade agreement negotiations.

Starting tomorrow, the United Kingdom and the European Union will discuss how this future relationship should look and function. At the moment, the UK and the EU have a fully-aligned regulatory regime.  However, MedTech Europe acknowledges that this may soon change.

Considering the high volume of exchanges between the two markets and the European Commission’s communication of 12 June 2019 requiring particular vigilance and contingency plans for the sector, MedTech Europe calls upon the European Union and the United Kingdom to keep medical technologies a priority item of the trade agreement negotiations to allow for an outcome that will keep medical technologies available to patients and healthcare systems.

MedTech Europe will continue to work, together with its members, on the agreement’s key priorities to ensure continuous delivery of critical medical technologies to healthcare systems across the United Kingdom and the European Union.