On 27 May 2014, after two years of debates and extensive amendments by the EU’s law-making institutions, the EU Clinical Trial Regulation1 was published. The Regulation repeals and replaces the Clinical Trials Directive, an instrument described by the European Commission as “arguably the most heavily criticised piece of EU-legislation in the area of pharmaceuticals”. The Clinical Trials Regulation is intended to improve the existing framework, and will become applicable at the earliest on 28 May 2016. This report reviews the most significant changes to the existing system brought about by the Clinical Trials Regulation, and how this Regulation purports to strike a balance between its objective of increasing clinical trial activity in the EU and the need to protect clinical trial subjects’ rights, safety and well-being.