The Employment, Social policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council gathered together 54 Ministers and government representatives and 3 Commissioners in Brussels on 1-2 December 2003. The Agenda included a number of key legislative and policy items:
The meeting adopted Recommendations on Healthy Lifestyles and on Cancer Screening and held a debate on the new proposed European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) which is currently in First reading in the Parliament. The Member States stressed that the ECDC should not have regulatory powers and there was no agreement about extending the remit to cover Non-Communicable Diseases.
Council Conclusions were adopted on Medical Devices and a Resolution on Pharmaceuticals, public health and patients linked to the G10 process. Legislation on nutrition and health claims for food was discussed, the European Parliament’s opinion on the draft legislation is expected in early 2004.
