Welcome to the July 2007 edition of the EPHA newsletter!
EU leaders gathered in Brussels on 21-22 June 2007 to re-launch the debate on the future of Europe. They outlined the mandate of an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) which will draw up a new Treaty by the end of 2007.
Several Member States have joined forces to stop any major transfer of competences to the European Commission (EC). This means that the articles that were negotiated during the European Convention that gave any extra competences to the EC are being revised.
The health community is not happy, as there are clear indications that EU leaders will abandon the key positive elements related to health that were introduced in the former Constitutional Treaty: the European Commission was granted a stronger mandate to fight health threats, including tobacco and alcohol. It was also given a bigger role in the co-operation between Member States against communicable diseases.
Independently of domestic politics and anti-European feelings, the fact is that health threats respect no boundaries. The risk of a flu pandemic is still casting its shadow over Europe, and we have heard the European Commissioner for health admit that he has more powers to protect animal health than human health.
But the decision-making is now in the hands of the heads of government and state, and the negotiators that represent the governments in the preparatory work.
However, this will not stop the health community making their voice heard. EPHA shall be following the negotiations closely through a dedicated section on its website and regular calls for action to its members.
Read all the online articles of our newsletter for July 2007
EPHA members can find the following information on the Members Only section:
Report to the 3rd annual obesity Europe conference, June 2007
Report of the launch of the World Bank’s report: slowly defeating HIV/AIDS in Africa
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