MedTech Europe response to the Call for Evidence: European Partnerships to be implemented as Joint Undertakings

MedTech Europe welcomes the European Commission’s initiative to establish a Single Basic Act (SBA) for Joint Undertakings (JUs) under the next Multiannual Financial Framework. JUs are among the EU’s most effective tools for mobilising industrial expertise, investment, infrastructure, data and cross-sector collaboration to tackle complex societal and competitiveness challenges, as demonstrated by the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI).

Future reforms should be evidence-based, building on the proven strengths of existing JUs while improving simplification, proportionality, agility, and the links between research, validation, deployment and downstream financing.

Industrial in-kind contributions, including expertise, data, clinical networks and regulatory know-how, remain the core participation model and should be recognised as such, with mandatory cash contributions avoided. Governance must stay balanced, efficient and reflective of partners’ commitments, with stronger connections to instruments like the European Competitiveness Fund to support scale up and market uptake.

MedTech Europe calls for a structured, timely co-creation process with industry to shape the future of European public-private partnerships in health.

Read our full position below.