September 2004 newsletter

Welcome to the September 2004 edition of the EPHA newsletter.

The European Parliament has taken centre stage as MEPs seize the opportunity to grill the 24 Commissioner designates, Commissioner President Barroso was already accepted by the Parliament in July. Parliamentarians have insisted that the hearings in the last week of September and early October be taken seriously. Socialist and Green MEPs, alarmed at the political emphasis on competitiveness above other policy considerations will be asking tough questions of Commissioners responsible for social and environment policies. The hearings will be the first opportunity for nominee Health Commissioner Kyprianou to show his commitment and enthusiasm for this challenging dossier. But the Parliament only has a ’nuclear button’- to reject or accept the entire College of Commissioners.

Legislative developments included the publication of a draft Directive on Paediatric Medicines, new proposals for the European Working Time Directive.

The European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) was officially launched although the Director will not be identified until the end of the year.

The EPHA Secretariat was busy meeting with several Members of the European Parliament in order to organise the Intergroup on Health.

EPHA Environment Network (EEN) held their Annual General Assembly and EPHA worked together with EEN and a wide coalition of environment and women’s NGOs to organise a well attended "Chemical Cocktail" event in the European Parliament to inform MEPs about the proposed chemicals legislation called ’REACH’.

EPHA members can find a variety of information in the members only section :

 a paper prepared by Prof.dr N.S. Klazinga, Professor of Social Medicine at the Amsterdam University for the Dutch Presidency, which adresses some of the major issues arising from an ageing society, new disease patterns, healthcare services and healthcare costs in the European Union.

European Parliament sub-section:
 Review of recent Committee meetings
 Highlights of Commissioner Hearings
 Overview of EU legislation and policy priorities on environment and health

Briefing notes sub-section:
 European Centre for Disease Control
 Revision of the WHO International Health Regulations
 Overview of the Lisbon Strategy

Reports from meetings sub-section (feedback on events attended by the EPHA Secretariat):
 NGOs and their role in policy-making
 EU health policy in an international context

 Read all the online articles of our newsletter for September 2004.