Newsletter April 2008

EU lobbying transparency a step closer but still some way to go

On 25 March 2008, the transparency group Alter-EU has accused the Commission of relying too heavily on business and industry lobbyists when drawing up EU legislation. In reaction, the Commission has said it will publish a list of individual experts who sit on its advisory groups by the summer. But, a European Parliament committee would like the EU to go further and called for a mandatory register of the estimated 15-20,000 lobbyists. Background The European Commission has long consulted (...)

Newsletter April 2008

Welcome to the April 2008 edition of the EPHA Newsletter. April was a busy month for health, not only with the packed policy agenda in Brussels (see this month’s articles on the Alcohol Forum, conference on Health literacy and others) but also as health issues were consistently making headlines across Europe. The developing food crisis is hitting Europe as well as other continents and this has provoked a number of responses, from protectionism in some corners, fierce criticism of (...)

Secretariat News April 2008

EPHA working meetings On 9 and 10 April, EPHA attended a meeting in Paris to talk about the ending of the first working year of the STACS project, STACS is a project bringing science and society closer together, funded by DG Research, FP6. Fore more information, please visit the STACS website from 21 to 24 April EPHA attended a meeting of the Action For Global Health Network to agree how this years report on Aid Effectiveness is to be finalised an to plan the activites of the network (...)

Presentation on the Open Method of Coordination (French)

On 15 April, Jessica Imbert gave a presentation on the Open Method of Coordination. The Open Method of Coordination (OMC) is an intergovernmental means of governance in the European Union, based on the voluntary cooperation of its member states. Initially used for social protection issues, the European Council has decided to extend the OMC to health and longterm care. The OMC is an instrument which involves ’soft law’ and the setting of targets and indicators on health. This (...)

Vassiliou answers questions on cross-border healthcare

The hearing of Commissioner Vassiliou was well attended by MEPs, industry and health NGO representatives, keen to hear her comments and priorities for the remainder of the term of this Commission The Commissioner remained composed despite a grueling three-hour session with many difficult and controversial questions. The Commissioner addressed Members of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, as well as Committees on Agriculture and on [Employment and Social (...)

Vassiliou answers questions on pharmaceuticals

The Commissioner responded to direct questions on pharmaceutical issues. The hearing of Commissioner Vassiliou was well attended by MEPs, industry and health NGO representatives, keen to hear her comments and priorities for the remainder of the term of this Commission The Commissioner remained composed despite a grueling three-hour session with many difficult and controversial questions. The Commissioner addressed Members of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, (...)

EU DETERMINE project tackles health inequalities

DETERMINE is an EU wide initiative to stimulate action on the social and economic determinants of health inequalities, which is co-funded by the EU Public Health Action Programme. Its main objective is to achieve greater awareness and capacity amongst decision makers in all policy sectors in order to take health and health equity into consideration when developing policies and interventions. Who are we? DETERMINE brings together a Consortium of over 50 health bodies, public health and (...)

"Protecting Health from Climate Change" - World Health Day, 7 April 2008

On occasion of the 2008 "World Health Day" the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the World Health Organisation held a conference on "Protecting Health from Climate Change" on 7 April 2008. 2008 World Health Day focused on the need to protect health from the adverse effects of climate change. The theme was selected in recognition that climate change is posing ever growing threats to global public health security. The celebration of the World Health Day started (...)

Two people die from vCJD in Spain

Two people have died in Spain after contracting the human form of "mad cow disease", variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) that is is thought to be transmitted in infected meat and bone. Since 2000, more than 800 Spanish have suffered from different types of vCJD. Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) was first found in humans in 1995 and is thought to be transmitted in infected meat and bone. Since 2000, more than 800 Spanish have suffered from different types of vCJD but the only (...)

The European Commission adopted a regulation on the use of safe recycled plastics in food packaging

The European Commission has adopted a new regulation to ensure safety of food packaging made of recycled plastics. This new action sets the conditions under which the manufacturers of food contact materials can use recycled plastics. Regulation (EC) 282/2008 on recycled plastic materials and articles was adopted on 27/03/2008 in order to ensure the safety of food packaging made of recycled plastics. The present Regulation: Sets the conditions under which the manufacturers of food (...)