3. Legal bodies responsible for regulatory procedures

The HMA is a network of the Heads of the National Competent Authorities coordinated and supervised by a Management Group. The HMA is supported by working groups covering specific areas and a Permanent Secretariat.

The HMA work closely with the EMA and the European Commission to maximise cooperation and ensure the European medicines regulatory network functions efficiently.

The HMA:

• addresses key strategic issues for the network, such as the exchange of information, IT developments and sharing of best practices
• focuses on the development, co-ordination and consistency of the European medicines regulatory system
• ensures the most effective and efficient use of resources across the network. This includes developing and overseeing arrangements for work-sharing between different regulatory authorities
• co-ordinates the mutual recognition (MRP) and decentralised procedures (DCP).

Member agencies support the network by providing high-quality professional and scientific resources to all areas of medicines regulation including centralised, MRP, DCP and national procedures.

Further information: http://www.hma.eu/