Lobbying on Healthcare - Brussels (July 2026 edition)
European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations; Health & Environment Alliance; AnimalhealthEurope; Merck; Merck Sharp & Dohme Europe Belgium SRL; Kimal PLC were unusually active lobbyists last month.
The Themes Hidden in June's Lobbying Data
Section A: The Themes Hidden in June's Lobbying Data
Pharma Industry Intensifies Lobbying amid New EU Regulatory Overhaul
A notable increase in meetings by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations with Direct. Gen. Health and Animal Welfare, Direct. Gen. Trade, and Comm Varhelyi (Health and Animal Welfare), as well as by the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union, in June 2026 coincides with the rollout of the EU's revised pharmaceutical legislation. Stakeholders have actively engaged with EU officials to discuss implementation details, exclusivity terms, and new supply and access requirements, reflecting the sector’s efforts to shape the regulatory transition as the new framework moves toward operationalization.
📎 EU Council Publishes Final 2026 Pharma Package: New Regulatory Framework for Medicinal Products
Veterinary Sector Steps Up Engagement Ahead of GMP Rule Separation
June 2026 saw a spike in veterinary sector lobbying, with AnimalhealthEurope, Access VetMed, and the Association of Veterinary Consultants meeting with the Directorate General for Health and Animal Welfare to address challenges related to the separation of veterinary medicinal product requirements from human medicines. This rise in advocacy comes as the sector prepares to comply with binding, sector-specific Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) rules scheduled to take effect in July.
Medical Device Firms Rally for Loopholes as Universal PFAS Ban Nears
A flurry of meetings in June between medical and dental device manufacturers—including Zimmer Biomet Holdings and Merck Sharp & Dohme Europe Belgium SRL—Direct. Gen. Industry and SMEs, Direct. Gen. Environment, the European Commission, and advocacy coalitions comes amid the EU’s final legal drafting of universal PFAS restrictions. Many sector representatives, such as the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations and Chiesi Farmaceutici SpA, are lobbying for sector-specific exemptions and extended compliance windows, citing the indispensable use of PFAS in certain medical devices.
📎 EU PFAS Regulation: 2026 Status Update | Healthy Europe · Update on the universal PFAS restriction – March 2026
Medtech Lobby Escalates as New EU Conformity Rules Take Hold
Lobbying efforts from the medical technology sector, including organisations such as MedTech Europe, Kimal PLC, and OSATU, accelerated in June 2026 in response to the official introduction of harmonized EU rules for conformity assessment. Industry leaders such as MedTech Europe have intensified their meetings with European Commission representatives, notably Comm Varhelyi (Health and Animal Welfare), advocating for transparency and predictability around certification timelines and recertification protocols.
📎 New EU rules: more business predictability and transparency in medtech conformity assessment · Implementing regulation - EU - 2026/977 - EN - EUR-Lex
Section B: Lobbying Activity by Industry
This section compares, by industry, the lobbying activity with the European Commission last month to its historical average.
Industry Lobbying Activity, June 2026
In June 2026, 7 industries from this sector were active in lobbying meetings with the European Commission, led by Pharmaceutical preparations.
Industries running notably above their historical average this month include Veterinary Services, Medical and Dental Instruments, and Other Human Health.
On the quieter side, Pharmaceutical preparations and Other Social Work w/o Accommodation saw notably less lobbying activity than their historical average.
Section C: Lobbying by Industry for the Past Year
To contextualize Section B, this chart shows the residual trajectory of the same top industries from Section B over the past 12 months — the deviation from what would be expected after accounting for seasonal patterns and the overall trend. Persistent above-zero values indicate sustained over-activity; persistent below-zero values indicate sustained quiet periods.
Sector Residual (June 2026)
This chart shows the 7 industries in this sector with the largest deviations from expected lobbying activity in June 2026. Positive values run above their seasonal trend, negative values below.
Sector saw lobbying notably below expected levels this month.
Section D: Lobbying Activity by Organization
In this section, we see the organizations with the most unusual lobbying behavior last month, defined by either unusually high or unusually low lobbying activity.
Organization Lobbying Activity, June 2026
In June 2026, 39 organizations from this sector took part in 36 lobbying meetings with the European Commission.
The organizations with the most notable increases in lobbying activity this month include European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, Health & Environment Alliance, AnimalhealthEurope, Merck, and Merck Sharp & Dohme Europe Belgium SRL.
On the quieter side, SANOFI, Medecins Sans Frontieres International, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Bayer AG, and MEDICINES FOR EUROPE saw notably less lobbying activity than usual.
New to the sector's lobbying records this month: Kimal PLC, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Karolinska universitetssjukhuset, and OSATU.
Section E: Lobbying of Government Institutions in the Past Month
Every lobbying meeting takes place with one of two types of European Commission body: a Commissioner's cabinet (political staff) or a Directorate-General (the civil service). This section shows the organisation-to-institution pairings with the most unusual lobbying activity last month, defined by the largest absolute difference between this month's meeting count and the pair's 12-month rolling average.
Lobbying of Commission Institutions, June 2026 vs 12-Month Avg
In June 2026, 39 organisations from this sector met with 15 Commission bodies across 36 meetings — split across 8 Commissioner cabinets and 7 Directorates-General.
Notable increases in lobbying activity this month include Health & Environment Alliance with Direct. Gen. Environment, AnimalhealthEurope with Direct. Gen. Health and Animal Welfare, Bayer AG with Comm Varhelyi (Health and Animal Welfare), and MedTech Europe with Comm Varhelyi (Health and Animal Welfare).
Section F: Organization Lobbying by Subject in the Past Month
This section shows the organisation-to-subject pairings with the most unusual lobbying activity last month. Subjects are classified from each meeting's title text into one of 19 EU policy areas. A meeting covering multiple topics counts toward each of them.
Lobbying by Subject, June 2026 vs 12-Month Avg
In June 2026, 39 organisations from this sector lobbied on 9 policy topics across 36 meetings. Meetings may touch multiple topics, so subject totals can exceed total meetings.
Topics with notably elevated lobbying activity this month include Health & Environment Alliance on Environment, AnimalhealthEurope on Agri-Food, European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations on Healthcare, Bayer AG on Healthcare, and MedTech Europe on Healthcare.
On the quieter side, SANOFI on Healthcare saw notably less lobbying activity than their historical average.
Section G: Most-Lobbied Officials
This section lists the most-frequent lobbying touchpoints between this sector's organisations and individual European Commission officials last month, compared to each pairing's average over the past year.
Most-Lobbied Officials, June 2026
In June 2026, 34 European Commission officials took part in 36 meetings with this sector's lobbyists.
The most-frequent meetings this month were MedTech Europe and Oliver Varhelyi + 3 others at Comm Varhelyi (Health and Animal Welfare), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Hadja Lahbib + 3 others at Comm Lahbib (Health Preparedness), Merck and Jessika Roswall + 2 others at Comm Roswall (Environment), Chiesi Farmaceutici SpA and Jessika Roswall + 1 other at Comm Roswall (Environment), and Moderna, Inc. and Oliver Varhelyi at Comm Varhelyi (Health and Animal Welfare).
Most activity came from Cabinet members (64 meetings), followed by Commissioner (16) and Head of Unit (13).
