European Bodies in the field of health

[Snowy Owl]

European Bodies in the field of health
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_overview/other_policies/eu_agencies_en.htm

A Community agency is a body governed by European public law; it is distinct from the Community Institutions (Council, Parliament, Commission, etc.) and has its own legal personality. It is set up by an act of secondary legislation in order to accomplish a very specific technical, scientific or managerial task which is specified in the relevant Community act. <table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="80%"><tbody><tr> <td> Executive Agency for the Public Health Programme
As a result of greater flexibility, the Executive Agency will be a means of improving the effectiveness of the way in which the Community public health programme is implemented. It will be able to mobilise high-level expertise in the field of public health in order to meet the objectives defined by the Commission and under its control. The Commission will be able to derive capitalise on Executive Agency?s technical work by developing, in parallel, tasks which require political discretion.</td> </tr> <tr> <td> European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
The new centre, proposed by the Commission in July 2003, would mobilise and significantly reinforce the synergies between the existing national centres for disease control. By pooling expertise around Europe it would be able to provide authoritative scientific advice on serious health threats, recommend control measures, allow quick mobilisation of intervention teams and thus enable a rapid and effective EU-wide response. The ECDC could already be operational from early 2005 onwards. </td> </tr> <tr> <td> European Environment Agency (EEA)
Its mission is to collect, prepare and disseminate timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information on the state and trends of the environment at European level. The founding regulation of EEA stipulates that it is open to countries that do not belong to the European Union but share its concern for the environment. Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway have been members from the start, and 12 out of 13 candidate countries have joined in 2002, making the EEA the first EU body to welcome these countries as members. The Agency also co-operates actively with other relevant bodies and international organisations. </td> </tr> <tr> <td> European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drugs Addiction (EMCDDA)
The mission of the Centre is to collect and disseminate 'objective, reliable and comparable information' on the phenomenon of drugs and drug addiction in Europe. In order to do so, the Centre works in partnership with non-EU countries as well as with international organisations concerned with this issue, notably: the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Council of Europe's Pompidou Group, the World Customs Organisation (WCO), the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) and the European Police Office (Europol). </td> </tr> <tr> <td> European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA)
Its main responsibility is the protection of public and animal health. The EMEA works as a network, bringing together the scientific resources of the EU and EEA-EFTA Member States to ensure the highest level of evaluation and supervision of medicines in Europe. The Agency cooperates closely with international partners, reinforcing the EU contribution to global harmonisation. </td> </tr> <tr> <td> European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA)
The range and diversity of the occupational safety and health (OSH) issues that face Europe are beyond the resources and expertise of a single Member State or institution. This is why the European Agency was formed, in order to bring together and share the region's vast pool of knowledge and information on OSH-related issues, particularly preventative measures. </td> </tr> <tr> <td> European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
The primary responsibility of the Authority will be to provide independent scientific advice on all matters with a direct or indirect impact on food safety. The Authority has been given a wide brief, so that it can cover all stages of food production and supply, from primary production to the safety of animal feed, right through to the supply of food to consumers. It will gather information from all parts of the globe, keeping an eye on new developments in science.</td></tr></tbody></table>

[Snowy Owl]

Re: European Bodies in the field of health

High Level Committee on Public Health

The High Level Committee on Health is an informal advisory body to the Commission services. It consists of senior officials from the Health Ministries of EU Member States and Candidate Countries. It meets two to three times a year and operates with a number of working groups to cover policy areas in depth. The Committee has the following main tasks:

1. Provide advice

The Committee provides strategic advice to the Commission on matters related to the development of the health strategy. This includes notably, input at the policy development stage on new initiatives and activities in the public health field. Moreover, the Committee also advises on links between public health policy and other health-related policy areas.


2. Provide a forum for the exchange of information

The Committee serves as a forum of exchange of information on important health related developments at European level and in Member States. In addition to discussing strategic issues itself, the Committee also has a particular role in disseminating information in the Member States and helping to create and strengthen the networks needed to consider strategic policy issues.

http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_overview/co_operation/high_level/high_level_en.htm