The European Union agreed the precise text of its new ‘Lisbon Treaty’. This makes an end to the chapter of searching for a new set of EU rules, after the rejection of the draft EU Constitution in 2005.   Poland managed to include the so-called Ioannina clause in a Protocol. This allows for a minority of member […]

         Just one week before EU leaders meet in Lisbon to adopt a new EU Reform Treaty , UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he will veto any agreement that does not respect the country’s hard-fought “red lines”. Brown said the UK had succeeded in having its “red-lines” written into the text of the […]

         On 2 October 2007 the Portuguese Presidency made it known that legal experts had “found agreement” on the reform of the EU institutions, stating that the “Treaty draft is ready”. The draft on the Reform Treaty was revealed in all EU languages on 5 October. This agreement marks a first step towards the adoption of […]

     The new EU Health Program for 2008-2013 is approved by the Council will come into force from 1 January 2008. The first Program of Community action in the field of public health (2003-2008) supported over 300 other projects and actions. The budget of the new program is EUR 321.000.000. The new program aims for […]

     Commission President José Manuel Barroso expounded in the beginning of a public consultation on the review of the budget, that he considers the exercise as an unique opportunity to discuss the Union’s political priorities, to make a reform of the budget and also a reform of the way they work. The consultation, opened on […]

    From September 2007 on, the EU’s Health Portal will be producing an online newsletter. Complementing the wealth of information on the portal itself, the newsletter will give a selection of the latest news and activities in the field of public health at both European and international level. To bring the work of the EU in […]

     In 2000, the 192 UN member states agreed on Eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be reached by 2015, three of which focus on health: combating Malaria, HIV/AIDS and other diseases; reducing infant mortality and deaths of women during childbirth. Yet, Europe lags behind, as shows the Report ‘Health Warning: Why Europe must act […]

As of 1 July Portugal will lead for the third time the principal decision-making body of the European Union. In 1992 and in 2000 Portugal already presided the Council. The main priorities for the Portuguese Presidency on health are the EU Health Strategy, drugs, migration, communicable diseases (HIV/AIDS), Health Systems Impact Assessments and pharmaceutical innovation. […]

   The European Commission will give in to the video-sharing trend by opening a page on the YouTube website to spread its audiovisual messages. The EU homepage www.youtube.com/EUtube will officially be launched on Friday (29 June) under plans by EU communication commissioner Margot Wallstrom. Officials said the EUtube channel will be multilingual and videos in […]

     EU leaders managed to overcome their two-year institutional impasse on 23 June, agreeing on a “Reform Treaty”, which will be finalised at an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) later this year and should come into force by 2009 after ratification in all 27 member states. On 23 June heads of state and governments signed up to […]