The European Medicines Agency, the European equivalent to the FDA for drug approval, has evidently convinced the European Parliament that it has its act together as far as conflicts of interest in the agency are concerned.  

On Oct. 24 the parliament finally agreed to what amounts to a discharge of the EMA’s 2010 budget, which it had refused to give until it was reassured that EMA had a workable policy for potential conflicts of interest for its staff and the experts that it utilizes. I started covering the story in 2011 when a furor broke out after the EMA’s head left the agency in January to work for a consulting firm that advises nine out of 10 pharmaceutical companies seeking regulatory approval for their products. Later, it was reported that he had basically operated a consulting firm out of his EMA office.  

EMA was censured by parliament for conflicts of interest in May 2011, and on March 27, 2012, the parliament's budget control committee asked EMA for an action plan to improve procurement and contract management and sought assurances as to the impartiality of the agency's employees and outside expert advisers. EMA revised its policy two weeks later. And now the parliament has responded favorably.  

This is important for the U.S. life sciences industry because of the number of companies that are global in reach.