Civil Society

HEAL recruiting Policy Officer: Climate and Air Quality

The Health & Environment Alliance (HEAL), of which EPHA is a member, is recruiting a part time Climate and Air Quality policy officer to contribute to their work to promote the better integration of public health benefits and impacts within these policies. The Health & Environment Alliance is Europe’s leading organisation working on how the environment affects health in the European Union. They are currently looking to recruit a part time policy officer to work on the policy (...)

EPHA joins the campaign for ’Freedom of Movement’ for people with disabilities

EPHA joined the European Disability Forum’s ’Freedom of Movement’ campaign. The campaign has been launched to highlight the fact that although the right to freedom of movement, and the right to free movement of goods and services, are enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty, these are all too often denied to people with disabilities. The campaign has made a number of demands including adoption of a European Accessibility Act which would lead to common accessibility requirements (...)

Public health capacity and advocacy in Poland - report

On 12 December 2011, a joint capacity building event "Public health in Poland: capacity and advocacy" organised by EPHA, ASPHER and in partnership with the Polish National Institute of Public Health (PNIPH) took place in Warsaw, Poland. The meeting convened the most prominent speakers in the field of public health policy, research and advocacy, and was well attended by stakeholders from multiple sectors and society levels. EPHA together with our member the Association of Schools of Public (...)

Commission refunds NGO after Ombudsman intervenes

The European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, has helped settle a dispute between the European Commission and the NGO Migration Policy Group (MPG) concerning payment for an EU project launched as part of the "European Migration Dialogue". The case refers to a EU-funded project which was undertaken by the NGO Migration Policy Group (MPG) in 2004 - 2005 and which they reported on in 2006. MPG had delivered supporting documents for staff costs after the given deadline. However they (...)

European Charter for Health Equity - open for signatures through 2012

After being officially launched on 9 December 2010, the European Charter for Health Equity will be open for signatures for a year (end 2011). We invite all relevant stakeholders, organisations and institutions to sign the Charter. We count on your active involvement! We have just over 160 signatories on our list of supporters! The European Charter for Health Equity has been opened for signatures until the end of 2012. To sign the European Charter for Health Equity please follow the (...)

EPHA position on the European Research Area

EPHA answered the DG Research consultation on the European Research Area. In the EPHA response, the role of CSOs and the importance of health research are highlighted. In its position, EPHA highlights the following points: Research and innovation should address the most pressing societal challenges benefiting all members of society; Energy and climate change along with population ageing and health are some of our biggest societal challenges and must be addressed by the ERA to (...)

Public Health in Poland: capacity and advocacy, 12 December, Warsaw

EPHA together with our member the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER) and in partnership with the Polish National Public Health Institute are organising a one-day conference on 12 December 2011 - on public health advocacy and capacity to ensure succesful and sustainable policy change in the field of public health. The seminar will have the following objectives: To empower the public health community to form advocacy strategies. To raise awareness of (...)

EPHA Briefing for members on the European Social Fund

In October, the Commission released a legislative proposal on cohesion funds. One of the programmes included was the European Social Fund, that will receive at least €84 billion. Local and regional organisations should be able to use these funds to promote healthy and active ageing, reduce health inequalities, and training for health professionals. EPHA has produced a briefing for members on the proposal. The European Social Fund aims to improve employment opportunities, promote (...)

Commission’s expert groups’ budget frozen by the European Parliament

The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favour of freezing part of the budget for the European Commission’s expert groups until new rules are introduced to provide safeguards against their capture by special interests and to improve transparency. ALTER-EU has welcomed this initiative by the Parliament to put pressure on the European Commission to prevent the corporate capture of EU policy preparation. The European Parliament in its resolution has asked the European (...)

How will the European Investment Bank work with civil society in the future? Meeting report

For the first time, the European Investment Bank held a seminar with its Board of Directors to meet with representatives from civil society on 17 October 2011. The EPHA Secretariat attended to find out more information on how the EIB will involve civil society in the future. The main focus of the meeting was on EIB operations in climate action, lending to SMEs and the development dimension of lending. EPHA tabled a question on how the EIB intends to help develop social capital, invest (...)