European Parliament Refuses to Approve EMA's 2010 Spending, 2013 Budget

The European Parliament is refusing to approve of how the European Medicines Agency (EMA) spent its fiscal year 2010 budget-a move that is delaying the approval of EMA's fiscal year 2013 budget, reports PharmaTimes.

"The Parliament's Budgetary Control Committee voted 14-9 this week in favor of postponing the EMA's budget management "discharge" (approval) procedure until the Agency presents it with an action plan to improve procurement and contract management," wrote PharmaTimes.

The budget issue is reportedly becoming intertwined with a review of the agency, which has been accused of conflicts of interest under the leadership of EMA's former Executive Director, Thomas Lonngren.

EMA's €239.1 million budget is likely to be held up until a report detailing the results of that review is completed in June.

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PharmaTimes - EMA plans 239.1M-euro 2013 budget; Parliament "no" to 2010's spending