Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Healthier, safer, more confident citizens: a Health and Consumer protection Strategy{SEC(2005) 425}
Date: 2005-04-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU action, action programme, consumer protection, cross-border cooperation, information, public health

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 6.4.2005 
COM(2005) 115 final 

2005/0042 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Healthier, safer, more confident citizens: a Health and Consumer protection Strategy 

Proposal for a 

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

establishing a Programme of Community action in the field of Health and Consumer 
protection 2007-2013 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

(presented by the Commission) 

{SEC(2005) 425} 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

1.1.  What do our citizens want? 

EU  citizens  want  to  live  healthily  and  safely  wherever  and  whoever  they  are 
and to have confidence in the products and services they consume. They also 
want a say in the decisions that affect their health and their consumer interests. 
The  EU,  national  and  regional  authorities,  businesses  and  civil  society  must 
play  a  part  to  respond  to  these  concerns,  but  there  are  common  health  and 
consumer policy challenges that only EU level action can tackle. 

to 

This  Communication  sets  out  how  the  EU  intends  to  improve  health  and 
consumer confidence using the Treaty provisions1. By doing so it will help to 
bring  Europe  closer 
its 
competitiveness.  Better  health  contributes  to  Europe’s  productivity,  labour 
force participation and sustainable growth. Bad health drives up costs and is a 
burden  on  the  economy.  Equally,  achieving  an  Internal  Market  in  goods  and 
services  that  responds  to  consumer  needs  and  demands  will  improve 
competitiveness.  

its  citizens  and  contribute 

to  enhancing 

1.2.  Why a joint approach  

This  Communication  and  the  attached  programme  proposal  bring  together 
Public  Health  and  Consumer  protection  policies  and  programmes  under  one 
framework  to  make  EU  policy  work  better  for  citizens.  Many  objectives  of 
health  and  consumer  actions  under  Treaty  articles  152  and  153  are  shared: 
promoting health protection, information and education, safety and integration 
of  health  and  consumer  concerns  into  all  policies.  Health  and  consumer 
policies also use many similar types of actions to pursue their objectives e.g. 
information to citizens, consultation of stakeholders, mainstreaming activities, 
risk assessment. Bringing the two areas together will thus lead to greater policy 
coherence, economies of scale and increased visibility. 

Finally,  the  joint  programme  will  offer  savings  and  synergies  in  terms  of 
streamlined  administrative  and  budgetary  procedures,  common  tools  and  a 
common executive agency.  

While exploiting synergies, the programme will maintain and develop the core 
specificities of  actions on health and consumer protection so as to respond to 
stakeholders’ concerns.  

1 

The new Constitution would reinforce the Treaty mandate by stating that “the Union's aim is to promote 
peace (…) and the well-being of its peoples” (art. I-3). It would also extend Community health powers 
(art. III-278). The Charter of Fundamental Rights further states that “everyone has the right of access to 
preventive  health  care  and  the  right  to  benefit  from  medical  treatment  (…).  A  high  level  of  human 
health  protection  shall  be  ensured  in  the  definition  and  implementation  of  all  Union  policies  and 
activities” (art. II-95). 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
2. 

Making Europe’s citizens Healthier, safer and more confident  

The  goal  of  EU  Health  and  Consumer  Policy  is  to  improve  EU  citizens’  quality  of 
life in terms of their health and their consumer interests. For health, progress will be 
assessed  with  the  Healthy  Life  Years  (HLY)  Structural  Indicator  (the  number  of 
years a person can expect to live in good health) and the EC Health Indicators. For 
consumer policy, a range of indicators is being developed. 

2.1.  Joint Health and Consumer protection objectives 

EU Health and Consumer policies have three core joint objectives: 

1. 

Protect  citizens  from  risks  and  threats  which  are  beyond  the  control  of 
individuals and that cannot be effectively tackled by individual Member 
States  alone  (e.g.  health  threats,  unsafe  products,  unfair  commercial 
practices). 

2. 

Increase the ability of citizens to take better decisions about their health 
and consumer interests. 

3.  Mainstream health and consumer policy objectives across all Community 
policies in order to put health and consumer issues at the centre of policy-
making.  

2.2.  Common actions  

There are several areas of synergy between EU Health and Consumer policies 
and thus much scope for complementary action as follows: 

• 

• 

• 

Improve  communication  with  citizens  to  provide  information  they  need 
for  their  health  and  consumer  interests,  and  feed  their  concerns  into 
policy-making  better  e.g.  by  developing  web  portals,  awareness-raising 
campaigns, surveys, conferences, and information points.  

Increase  the  participation  of  consumer  and  health  organisations  in  EU 
policy-making  e.g.  by  promoting 
their  networking,  wider  public 
consultations and better representation in consultation bodies. Consumer 
and health organisations need active, expert and articulate voices. There 
is  still  a  lack  of  a  credible  EU  consumer  movement  and  a  need  to 
strengthen health networks. 

Develop  a  Commission  approach  to  integrate  health  and  consumer 
concerns  into  other  policies  and  share  best  practice  with  the  Member 
States.  In  the  health  area,  Health  Impact  Assessment  will  be  developed 
and  synergies  built  with  policies  such  as  food  safety,  social  policy, 
environment,  customs,  research,  and  regional  policy.  In  the  consumer 
area,  policies  that  regulate  markets  or  citizens’  rights  (e.g.  copyright, 
access 
interest, 
justice),  competition, 
standardisation and the information society are key. 

services  of  general 

to 

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
 
 
• 

• 

• 

Enhance  scientific  advice  and  expert  risk  assessment  e.g.  by  promoting 
the  early  identification  of  risks;  analysing  their  potential  impact; 
information  exchange  on  hazards  and  exposure;  fostering  harmonised 
approaches to risk assessment and promoting training for assessors. 

Promote  the  safety  of  products  and  substances  of  human  origin  (blood, 
tissues  and  cells)  e.g.  with  best  practice  exchange,  awareness  raising, 
implementation  guidelines,  training  and  networking,  surveillance  and 
development of standards. 

Promote  international  cooperation  with  international  organisations  and 
third  countries  in  health  and  consumer  protection.  The  EU  must  play  a 
bigger role in international health e.g. by strengthening co-operation with 
the  WHO  and  the  OECD  and  by  supporting  third  countries  on  major 
health  issues,  in  particular  candidate  and  neighbourhood  countries  and 
the  Western  Balkans.  On  consumer  affairs,  international  regulatory 
cooperation  is  needed  e.g.  on  product  safety  and  dealing  with  rogue 
traders.  

The  proposed  programme  budget  is  EUR  1 203  million,  which  represents  a 
substantial increase vis-à-vis current expenditure. The executive agency set up 
for  the  Public  Health  Programme2  will  be  extended  to  support  the  new 
programme (see annex 1). 

3. 

Making European citizens healthier 

3.1.  Where we are  

Health  is  a  basic  human  right.  Making  European  citizens  healthier  is  the 
ultimate goal of all health activities pursued under the Treaty. 

EU  citizens  are  living  longer  and  in  better  health  than  ever  before.  However, 
Europe faces serious health challenges requiring EU response.  

The open consultation on health pointed to the need to boost EU action3 e.g. on 
mainstreaming health, tackling determinants, preventing diseases, investing in 
health  research,  improving  information,  addressing  inequalities,  enhancing 
international  co-operation,  involving  stakeholders  in  policy-making  and  the 
need for more resources. The evaluation of the health programmes 1996-20024 
also recommended more focus on prevention and dissemination of information 
and exchange of knowledge.  

2 
3 
4 

Decision 2004/858/EC. 
A reflection process on health launched in July 2004 generated nearly 200 contributions. 
Evaluation by Deloitte, 2004. 

EN 

4 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
First,  there  are  major  inequalities  within  and  between  Member  States  in  life 
expectancy,  health  status  and  access  to  healthcare.  In  turn  this  leads  to 
inequalities in growth and competitiveness. Health contributes to productivity, 
labour  participation  and  economic  growth.  Cost-efficiency  actions  and 
investment  in  prevention  are  thus  needed  to  improve  both  health  and  the 
economy. This was concluded in the Lisbon process, which also stressed that 
“a  major  challenge  will  be  to  reduce  the  important  differences  between 
Member  States  in  terms  of  life  expectancy,  incidence  of  major  diseases  and 
health  capability.  Modernising  the  health  sector  (…)  can  make  a  substantial 
contribution  to  sustain  labour  supply”5.  The  EU  can  add  value  in  helping 
bridge the health gap and in positioning health as a factor of competitiveness 
e.g.  with  awareness  raising,  gathering  and  dissemination  of  evidence  and 
exchange of good practice. 

The  Report  to  the  Spring  Council  stresses  that  increasing  Healthy  Life  Years 
(HLY) is crucial in attracting more people into employment6. Increasing HLY 
by  preventing  disease  and  promoting  active  ageing  is  important  for  the 
sustainability  of  public  finances  under  pressure  from  rising  healthcare  and 
social  security  costs,  a  pressure  growing  as  the  population  ages  and  the 
proportion of the population of working age falls.  

Meeting  the  challenges  posed  by  health  inequalities  and  ageing  requires  a 
range  of  cross-sector  actions.  Also  the  rise  in  childhood  diseases  linked,  e.g. 
with  obesity,  demands  a  special  focus  on  the  childhood  dimension  of  health 
promotion. 

Health inequalities, ageing and children’s health are thus underlying themes 
of all health activities under the current programme.  

Second, lessons from global health threats such as avian influenza show the 
need  for  increased  EU  capacity  to  protect  citizens  against  threats  requiring  a 
coordinated  response,  including  bioterrorism.  In  line  with  its  Strategic 
objectives for 2005-20097, which stress the importance of countering threats to 
citizens’  health  and  safety  at  EU  level,  the  Commission  proposes  that  the 
programme has a new strand on response to threats. 

Third, Member States face common challenges that require promoting health 
and  preventing  illness.  The  growing  burden  of  avoidable  diseases  related  to 
life-style  and  addiction  (e.g.  tobacco,  alcohol,  drug  use,  nutrition),  diseases 
such as HIV and mental illness, all call for EU level action. To help meet these 
reinforced  and 
challenges, 
complemented by a new strand on disease prevention.  

the  health  determinants  strand  will  be 

5 
6 
7 

SEC(2005) 160, 28.1.2005. 
Communication to the Spring European Council COM(2005) 24, 2.2.2005. 
Strategic objectives 2005-2009, “Europe 2010”, 2005. 

EN 

5 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Fourth,  the  EU  can  help  health  systems  respond  to  the  challenges  they  face. 
The  Lisbon  process  concluded  that  EU  support  to  healthcare  systems  can 
provide important added value. A new strand on health systems co-operation is 
thus proposed. 

Fifth, health policy must be based on sound information. The existing health 
information  strand  will  be  expanded,  with  a  stronger  focus  on  analysis  and 
dissemination to citizens.  

Lastly,  health  policies  will  be  shaped  in  closer  partnership  with  citizens  and 
stakeholders  e.g.  by  providing  support  to  develop  organisations  representing 
patients’ interests or which take forward the health agenda.  

The  programme  thus  reinforces  the  three  strands  of  the  Public  Health 
Programme  (information,  threats  and  determinants),  and  creates  three  new 
ones: response to threats, disease prevention and  co-operation  between  health 
systems. 

3.2.  What we do next 

The EU will seek to improve citizens’ health throughout their lives, to promote 
health  as  a  human  right  and  to  encourage  health  investment  by  pursuing  the 
following objectives. 

First, to protect citizens against health threats. 

Second, to promote policies that lead to a healthier way of life. 

Third, to contribute to reducing the incidence of major diseases in the EU.  

Fourth, to contribute to the development of more effective and efficient health 
systems. 

Fifth,  to  support  the  objectives  above  by  providing  health  information  and 
analysis.  

The following strands of action are foreseen. Annex II to the attached proposal 
for a Decision provides an exhaustive list of actions planned under each strand. 

3.2.1. Enhance surveillance and control of health threats 

Protecting EU citizens against health threats is  a Treaty obligation. The 
creation  of  the  European  Centre  for  Disease  Prevention  and  Control 
(ECDC)8  is  a  key  step.  It  will  analyse,  assess  and  advise  on  risks  from 
communicable  diseases,  and  enhance  capacity.  Action  under  the 
programme  and  ECDC  activities  will  be  complementary  and  will  boost 
Member  States’  efforts.  It  will  also  support  the  work  of  international 
organisations on communicable disease control. 

8 

Regulation (EC) No 851/2004.  

EN 

6 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
The programme will cover monitoring and surveillance of threats not in 
the  ECDC  remit,  in  association  with  the  “information  strand”,  in 
particular  on  physical  and  chemical  agents;  translate  research  into 
practical  methodologies;  and  implement  the  decision  creating  a  EU 
surveillance  network9,  Directives  on  blood,  tissues  and  cells,  and 
vaccination policies. To develop EU diagnostic capabilities for pathogens 
requires  a  European  reference  laboratory  structure  for  rare  or  high-risk 
pathogens. Criteria to evaluate the performance of these laboratories will 
be  set.  Lastly,  action  will  aim  to  help  Member  States  and  candidate 
countries to implement the International Health Regulations.  

3.2.2. Deliver response to health threats (new strand) 

To  protect  citizens  effectively,  the  EU  needs  technical  and  operational 
capability to prepare for and respond to health threats. Capacity is needed 
to  respond  to  health  risks  from  an  event  (inside  or  outside  the  EU)  to 
minimise the potential impact on the EU. 

Work under this strand of the programme will enhance the effectiveness 
of  national  structures  and  resources  with  action  to  improve  risk 
management  and  plans  for  health  emergencies;  facilitate  alert  and 
follow–up  communication  and  co-ordination  of  actions  in  health 
emergencies; improve preparedness and intervention capacities for health 
emergencies  focusing  on  concrete  mechanisms  and  provision  of  health 
assets; facilitate networking and exchange of expertise and best practice.  

It will thus help Member States develop their infrastructure, capacity and 
co-ordination arrangements needed to respond to a threat, e.g. setting up 
networks,  training  experts  and  developing  health  contingency  planning. 
In  addition,  natural  or  man-made  disasters  with  health  consequences 
require  e.g.  dispatching  health  experts  and  medical  equipment.  This 
involves planning and co-ordination mechanisms to mobilise, deploy and 
use health resources in health emergencies and crises.  

3.2.3. Promote health by tackling determinants 

Promoting  good  health  requires  tackling  both  the  life  style  factors  and 
addictions that undermine health (e.g. smoking, alcohol, unhealthy diets) 
and broader socio-economic and environmental health determinants. The 
overall  approach  to  pursue  this  objective  consists  of  a  series  of 
Community strategies to tackle the most important determinants, such as 
nutrition and obesity, alcohol abuse, tobacco smoking and drugs10 as well 
as HIV/AIDS11 and reproductive health. 

9 
10 
11 

Decision No 2119/98/EC. 
In co-operation with the EU Drug Strategy 2005-2012. 
In  co-operation  with  action  for  “A  coherent  European  Policy  Framework  for  External  Action  to 
confront HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis” - COM(2004) 726. 

EN 

7 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Socio-economic factors such as poverty and working conditions  will be 
addressed by actions to disseminate best practice and to integrate health 
inequality  issues  in  other  policies.  Environmental  actions  will  build  on 
the environment and health action plan 2004-2010, and focus on indoor 
air quality, environmental tobacco smoke and health outcomes linked to 
the environment. 

As  many  problems  originate  in  childhood, a life-cycle approach  will be 
used to focus on young people’s health. In addition, actions on the impact 
of ageing on health and healthcare demand will be proposed. 

Lastly,  the  Commission  will  develop  thematic  platforms  bringing 
together  Member  States  and  stakeholders  and  different  actions  on 
specific determinants. 

3.2.4. Prevent diseases and injuries (new strand) 

Some  diseases,  including  mental  illnesses,  cancer  and  cardio-vascular 
diseases,  represent  a  major  share  of  the  EU  disease  burden.  Action  on 
determinants  must  be  complemented  by  action  to  tackle  such  diseases, 
when this provides added value or when cross-border action is justified in 
terms  of  efficiency,  as  with  rare  diseases.  Actions  include  support  for 
secondary  prevention  e.g.  screening  and  early  detection 
through 
exchange of good practice, platforms, studies and networking. Synergies 
are envisaged with the 7th Framework Programme for Research. 

To help reduce accidents and injuries, preventive actions, campaigns and 
a  strategy  focusing  on  particular  risk  groups  and  situations  will  be 
proposed. 

3.2.5. Achieve synergies between national health systems (new strand) 

Health services are primarily Member States’ responsibility but EU-level 
cooperation  can  benefit  patients  and  health  systems  facing  common 
challenges  e.g.  medical  advances,  ageing,  mobility  of  patients  and 
professionals.  The  Commission  is  facilitating  cooperation  through  the 
meetings of the High Level Group on Health Services and Medical care 
and  the  open  method  of  coordination12.  Effective  cooperation  requires 
resources e.g. to set up and operate networks and carry out analysis.  

Community  support  would  include  facilitating  cross-border  healthcare 
provision, information exchange, promoting patient safety, support to set 
up  an  EU  system  for  centres  of  reference  and  providing  information  on 
health services. There will be complementarities with the 7th Framework 
Programme for Research and the action plan for eHealth. 

12 

COM(2004) 301 and COM(2004) 304. 

EN 

8 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
3.2.6. Generate and disseminate more and better health information to citizens, 

health experts and policy-makers 

An  EU-wide  knowledge  base  is  needed  for  the  collection,  analysis,  and 
dissemination  of  comparable  and  reliable  health  information  to  citizens 
and  policy  makers.  To  generate  and  disseminate  better  information 
means  expanding  existing  work  to  develop  a  EU  health  monitoring 
system  that  feeds  into  all  health  activities,  using  the  Community 
Statistical Programme as necessary.  

To  implement  this  objective  means  developing  existing  indicators  and 
new tools to collect data, a European health survey, more dissemination 
to citizens with an EU health portal, campaigns targeting young people, 
networking  and 
includes 
strengthening health analysis and supporting e-Health tools. 

information  on  rare  diseases.  It  also 

4. 

Towards a European Market for European Consumers 

4.1.  Where we are 

Consumer  confidence  as  a  basic  requirement  of  markets  is  better  understood; 
but it has not been reflected enough in all policy areas.  

Member  States  now  give  more  priority  to  consumer  protection.  Business 
recognises  the  value  of  European  consumer  protection  legislation  to  develop 
the internal market, reinforce consumer confidence and exclude rogue traders. 
The importance of strong, credible consumer representation is also recognised. 

As the impact assessment demonstrates, we need more progress in those areas 
recognised as priorities for consumer policy. Our current goals: a common high 
level of consumer protection, proper enforcement of legislation and a stronger 
voice  for  consumers  in  policy  making  therefore  remain  still  valid,  as  is  the 
target of integrating consumer interests in other policies. Similarly, developing 
data  to  understand  consumers’  problems  and  needs  remains  a  challenge, 
despite recent progress.  

Market integration results in economic benefits for consumers (greater choice 
of goods and services, competition on merit; lower prices; higher standards of 
living).  Internal  Market  policies  must  ensure  that  these  benefits  are  realised, 
including  on  the  quality  of  goods  and  services,  and  their  accessibility  and 
inclusiveness. The Internal Market cannot function properly without consumer 
confidence.  Adequate  consumer  protection  is  necessary  for  growth  and 
competitiveness. 

4.2.  What we do next 

Consumer policy must, however, continue to keep up with developments.  

EN 

9 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Challenges that face consumer policy…. 

Such as:  

• 

• 

• 

• 

an ageing population, as well as the need for inclusiveness (particularly 
in  the  context  of  the  information  society)  with  regard  to  special  needs. 
These  include  problems  regarding  the  safety  of  goods  and  services, 
vulnerability  to  scams  and  rogue  traders;  easy  access  to  essential  goods 
and services. 

combined with the challenges posed to all consumers by more complex 
and sophisticated modern markets, that allow more choice, but also bring 
greater risks including crime. 

realising 
the  potential  for  cross-border  shopping  by  eliminating 
remaining  barriers  to  the  completion  of  the  retail  dimension  of  the 
internal market. 

the combined challenge of improving the application and enforcement of 
legislation, in particular across borders. 

….require  additional  efforts  and  new  ideas,  which  will  be  dealt  with 
through action in these two priority areas: 

• 

• 

ensuring  a  common  high  level  of  protection  for  all  EU  consumers, 
wherever  they  live,  travel  to  or  buy  from  in  the  EU,  from  risks  and 
threats to their safety and economic interests. 

increasing  consumers’  capacity  to  promote  their  own  interests,  i.e. 
helping consumers help themselves. 

In addition, a European Consumer Institute created within the single executive 
agency  of  the  programme  will  be  the  cornerstone  for  implementing  these 
actions (see annex 1). 

Four strands of actions are foreseen:  

4.2.1. Better understanding of consumers and markets 

This includes:  

• 

Developing  and  updating  its  scientific  knowledge  base  and 
assessment  tools  on  consumer  exposure  to  chemicals,  including 
with  respect  to  general  product  safety,  and  to  contribute  to  the 
application of REACH. 

EN 

10 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
• 

• 

comparable 

consumer  policy 

and 
Developing 
benchmarks: measure success of the market in delivering results for 
consumers,  e.g.  on  prices,  levels  of  cross-border  B2C  purchases, 
cross-border  marketing,  consumer  fraud,  accidents  and  injuries, 
consumer  complaints  –  with  particular  emphasis  on  Services  of 
General Interest. 

indicators 

Deepening  knowledge  of  consumer  demand  and  behaviour  and 
interaction  with  businesses,  and  market  impacts  of  regulation  e.g. 
through work on information provided to consumers and consumer 
satisfaction  using 
the  Community  Statistical  Programme  as 
necessary.  

Some  of  this  work  can  be  accommodated  under  the  7th  Framework 
Programme for Research. 

4.2.2. Better consumer protection regulation 

This includes: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Completing  the  review  of  consumer  law  directives,  developing  a 
Common Frame of Reference for European contract law. 

Analysis  of  the  safety  aspects  of  the  growing  cross-border  market 
in  services,  full  analysis  of  the  General  Product  Safety  directive, 
and more systematic use of standards.  

Understand better national consumer policies: identify and promote 
best  practice;  setting  benchmarks  and  recommendations;  training 
policy makers and enforcers. 

Examining  how  consumer  interests  are  taken  into  account  in 
standardisation, identify improvement needs. 

Ensuring  consumers  are  heard  in  EU  policy-making,  support 
effective consumer organisations at EU level and their participation 
in consultative bodies, forum groups, and specialist panels.  

4.2.3. Better enforcement, monitoring and redress 

This includes:  

• 

Strengthening  cross-border  enforcement: 
implementation  of 
relevant legislation and coordinating the work of all actors, and in 
particular customs, including on General Product Safety, RAPEX, 
and taking into account the international dimension. 

EN 

11 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
• 

• 

• 

Improving  transposition  and  implementation  of  EU  directives, 
focusing  more 
transposition  and 
implementation, to ensure consistent interpretation.  

resources  on  monitoring 

Improving consumer organisations’ ability to assist consumers, act 
as  an  early  warning  system  to  identify  rogue  traders,  and  monitor 
national policies.  

Improve  consumers’  means  of  redress,  notably  in  cross-border 
cases, 
to  Alternative  Dispute  Resolution; 
developing the network of European Consumer Centres. 

including  access 

4.2.4. Better informed and educated consumers 

This includes: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Informing consumers, jointly with Member States, e.g. about rights 
and  means  of  redress.  This  includes  comparative  testing,  price 
comparisons  and  better  awareness  of  offers  available  throughout 
the EU.  

Developing  consumer  education,  building  on  the  pilot  work  on 
education  carried  out  thus  far;  with  national  authorities,  support 
consumer  education  activities  incorporating  an  EU  dimension, 
actions targeted at young consumers. 

Ensuring  that  consumers,  through  better  information,  are  able  to 
make  informed,  environmentally  and  socially  responsible  choices 
on  food,  the  most  advantageous  products  and  services,  and  those 
that  correspond  most  to  their  lifestyle  objectives  thus  building  up 
trust and confidence. 

Capacity  building  of  consumer  organisations:  training  to  develop 
skills, knowledge, networking and pooling of efforts.  

The impact assessment shows the need for more and sustained action in 
all these areas. This requires more resources than currently available.  

Developing  a  knowledge  base  e.g.  on  consumer  detriment,  safety  of 
services,  satisfaction  and  confidence  of  consumers  on  the  market,  on 
services  of  general  interest,  or  the  information  society,  requires 
considerably stepping up research carried out so far. 

EN 

12 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
including  developing  networks, 

Training of consumer organisations and information to citizens  requires 
sustained  efforts  which  go  beyond  what  current  resources  allow. 
Enforcement  cooperation, 
training 
enforcers,  to  ensure  optimal  implementation  and  on-the-ground  cross-
border  enforcement,  is  necessary  but  has  a  cost.  Continued  efforts  to 
support consumer organisations require additional means in an enlarged 
EU.  Financial  resources  far  above  current  levels  are  thus  needed  to 
follow-up  on  the  2002-2007  Strategy,  and  to  take  on  the  outlined 
challenges. 

Implementing  the  programme  and  managing  these  additional  resources 
means efficient and structured organisation. The extension of the Health 
Executive  Agency  to  include  a  consumer  department  is  the  most  cost 
effective way of proceeding. 

5. 

CONCLUSION 

The  proposals  outlined  represent  a  major  departure  for  the  EU.  They  build  on  the 
work developed in the health and consumer areas and enable new links to be made 
thus creating synergies. This will improve efficiency and effectiveness of EU actions 
and make them more visible. More fundamentally, health and consumer interests lie 
at  the  centre  of  people’s  daily  lives.  By  bringing  these  issues  to  centre  stage  and 
proposing concrete action to meet citizens’ needs and concerns, the programme will 
help to bring a focus on citizenship to the centre of policy-making and will help to 
reconnect the EU with its citizens. 

EN 

13 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
Annex 1: The Executive agency of the joint Health and Consumer Programme  

To implement the joint Health and Consumer programme, the Commission will be assisted by 
one single executive agency, which will consist of an extended version of the existing Public 
Health Programme’s executive agency encompassing the “Consumer Institute”.  

To this end, the Commission will propose a modification to Commission Decision 2004/858 
of  15  December  2004  creating  the  Executive  agency  for  the  Public  Health  Programme  in 
order  to  enlarge  its  scope  of  action  to  supporting  the  operation  of  the  whole  new  joint 
programme. 

Without prejudice to this future Decision, it is envisaged that the agency would be organised 
in  two  “departments”:  the  “Health  Department”  and  the  “Consumer  Institute”.  Common 
actions would be managed jointly by the “two departments”. 

The scope of action of the Public Health Programme executive agency created by Decision 
2004/858 is limited to “implementing tasks concerning Community aid under the programme, 
except for programme evaluation, monitoring of legislation or any other actions which could 
come under the exclusive competence of the Commission”. In particular, the agency manages 
specific  projects,  deals  with  procedures  linked  to  the  award  of  contracts  and  grants  and 
provides  “logistic,  scientific  and  technical  support  in  particular  by  organising  meetings, 
preparatory studies, seminars and conferences”.  

The  “Consumer  Institute”  part  of  the  agency  is  intended  to  support  the  Commission  in 
carrying out the financial and administrative work on all consumer policy actions envisaged in 
the Health and Consumer protection Strategy. This would include the organisation of calls for 
tender  and  data  collection  and  related  work  to  bolster  research  and  data  collection; 
organisation  and  practical  day-to-day  running  of  programmes  to  educate  and  train  Member 
State  experts,  consumer  organisations  and  their  experts;  and  the  dissemination  of  data  and 
information. The Consumer Institute should actively seek co-operation with other Community 
bodies and programmes, and notably the Joint Research Centre and the Statistical Office of 
the  European  Communities  with  a  view  to  reinforce  synergies  in  all  relevant  areas  of 
consumer protection (e.g. exposure, consumer safety, method validation). 

As is the case with all executive agencies, the Commission will remain in charge of all policy 
decisions  related  to  defining  and  managing  policy  priorities  and  action,  including  the 
definition of the annual work plan (following the procedure specified in the draft Decision of 
the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a programme of Community action 
in  the  field  of  health  and  consumer  protection  (2007-2013).  This  would  enable  the 
Commission services to focus on policy-related tasks.  

EN 

14 

   EN 

 
Annex 2: Examples of Policy areas and issues where synergies with health and consumer 
policies can be developed further 

Policies 

Safety  of  the  food 
chain 

Social policy 

Research 

Issues  and  programmes  where  synergies  should  be  developed 
further 

Labelling, alert mechanisms, inspection and control 
Synergies  with  Research,  Transport,  Environment,  Agriculture, 
Education, action on nutrition 

Social policy agenda 
Social  security  benefits:  Regulation  1408/71  and  related  regulations; 
European Health Insurance Card 
Social  protection:  Open  Method  of  Co-ordination  in  Health  care  and 
long-term  care  services  (within  OMC  for  Social  Inclusion  and 
Protection) 
European Social Fund (ESF) projects to train health professionals 
Social and health services of general interest 
Health and safety at work 
Health  and  consumer  research  in  the  7th  framework  programme  for 
Research (theme Health research of FP7) 
Closer  co-operation  to  be  built  with  the  Research  programme,  in 
particular as regards the following strands of the Health and Consumer 
programme:  “Promote  health  by  tackling  determinants”,  “Prevent 
diseases  and  injuries”  (including  research  on  infectious  diseases); 
“Synergies between national health systems”. 

Environment  

Environment and Health action plan 2004-2010 

society 

eHealth Action Plan (eHealth applications, eHealth conferences) 

Information 
and Media 

Regional policy 

Economic policy 

e-communication and consumer rights (Services of General Interest) 

e-Inclusion and citizenship 
i2010 – A European Information Society for growth and employment 
eAccessibility (Policy and Research activities) 

Solidarity Fund 
Health under the Structural Funds’ new convergence objective 2007-13 
Health as a driver of regional development/health infrastructure projects 

Work on long-term budgetary projections of healthcare costs 
Work with OECD on health studies 
Macro-economic trends affecting consumer confidence 

Health and consumer policies as drivers of competitiveness 

EN 

15 

   EN 

 
Enterprise Policy 

Follow-up  to  the  G10  medicines  process  and  implementing  the  G10 
recommendations  
Joint action on pharmaceuticals and medical devices 

Internal Market 

Transport 

Energy  

Competition 

Trade  

REACH 

Pedestrian safety 

Cosmetics 

Consumer interests in standardisation 

Services in the Internal Market 
Recognition of professional qualifications 
Health insurance 

Retail financial services 

Postal services and Services of General Interest 

Data on consumers in the Internal Market  

Consumer detriment 

E-commerce directive 

European Road Safety Action Programme 
Transport of dangerous goods 
Passenger Rights 

Radiation protection Policy 
Liberalisation, consumer rights and safety 

Health services markets  
Consumer benefits and detriment 

Position of health services within trade negotiations  
TRIPS, anti-retroviral drugs, trade in tobacco products 
Integration  of  consumer  views  in  the  WTO,  including  the  GATS 
Regulatory dialogues 

External policy 

Co-operation with neighbourhood countries 

Development 
and Aid policies 

Enlargement 

Action  to  confront  HIV/AIDS,  Malaria  and  Tuberculosis  (external 
action). 
Shortages of health personnel in developing countries 
Promotion of civil society input  

Promotion of convergence with the EU acquis on Health and Consumer 
protection 

Promotion of economic and social cohesion 

Strengthening  public  administrations  and  institutions  in  the  fields  of 
Health and Consumer protection 

EN 

16 

   EN 

 
Taxation and Customs 
Union 

Taxes and duties on specific products relevant to health and consumers  
Custom  policies  (ensuring  provisions  on  health  and  safety  for  third 
countries’ products entering the EU) 

Agriculture 

Quality policy 
Cross compliance rural development programmes 

Education / Culture 

Youth programme, sports/promotion of physical activity 
Life-long learning, consumer education 

Statistical Programme  Statistics on health, health determinants, health services and food safety 

Statistics  on  consumer  protection  including  buying  patterns,  price 
comparisons and price convergence for goods and services 

Justice,  Freedom  and 
Security 

Access to Justice 

International private law and mediation 

Action  on  Drugs  abuse:  EU  Drugs  Strategy  (2005-2012)  and  the  EU 
Action Plan on Drugs (2005-2008).  

Enhancing consumer awareness of crime risks associated with products 
and services (“crime proofing”) 

Bioterrorism 

Trafficking in Human Organs 

Data protection 

Horizontal policies 

Better regulation 

communication 

EU 
Strategy 

Services  of  General 
Interest 

Full  involvement  of  health  and  consumer  representatives  in  the  EU 
policy process 

Communication strategy includes health and consumer interests 

Consumer rights in SGIs 

EN 

17 

   EN 

 
2005/aaaa (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

establishing a programme of Community action in the field of health and consumer 
protection (2007-2013) 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 
152 and 153 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission1, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee2, 

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions3, 

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty4, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

The Community can contribute to protecting the health, safety and economic interests 
of citizens through actions in the fields of public health and consumer protection. 

It  is  therefore  appropriate  to  establish  a  programme  of  Community  action  on  health 
and  consumer  protection,  replacing  Decision  No  1786/2002/EC  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  23  September  2002  adopting  a  programme  of 
Community  action  in  the  field  of  public  health  (2003-2008)5  and  Decision  No 
20/2004/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  8  December  2003 
establishing  a  general  framework  for  financing  Community  actions  in  support  of 
consumer  policy  for  the  years  2004  to  20076.  These  Decisions  should  therefore  be 
repealed. 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 

6 

OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ L 271, 9.10.2002, p. 1. Decision as amended by Decision No 786/2004/EC (OJ L 138, 30.4.2004, 
p. 7) 
OJ L 5, 9.1.2004, p. 1. Decision as amended by Decision No 786/2004/EC. 

EN 

18 

   EN 

 
 
                                                 
(3)  Whilst  maintaining  the  core  elements  and  specificities  of  actions  on  health  and 
consumer  protection,  a  single  integrated  programme  should  help  to  maximise 
synergies  in  objectives  and  efficiency  in  administration  of  actions  in  these  areas. 
Combining  health  and  consumer  protection  activities  in  a  single  programme  should 
help to meet joint objectives on protecting citizens from risks and threats, increasing 
the  ability  for  citizens  to  have  the  knowledge  and  opportunity  to  make  decisions  in 
their interests and supporting mainstreaming of health and consumer objectives in all 
Community  policies  and  activities.  Combining  administrative  structures  and  systems 
should enable more efficient implementation of the programme and help to make best 
use of available Community resources for health and consumer protection. 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

Health  and  consumer  protection  policies  share  common  objectives  relating  to 
protection against risks, improving decision-making of citizens and integrating health 
and  consumer  protection  interests  in  all  Community  policies,  as  well  as  common 
instruments  such  as  communication,  capacity-building  for  civil  society  regarding 
health  and  consumer  protection  issues,  and  promoting  international  cooperation  on 
these  issues.  Issues  such  as  diet  and  obesity,  tobacco  and  other  consumption-related 
choices related to health are examples of cross-cutting issues affecting both health and 
consumer  protection.  Taking  a  joint  approach  to  these  common  objectives  and 
instruments will enable activities common to both health and consumer protection to 
be  undertaken  more  efficiently  and  effectively.  There  are  also  separate  objectives 
relating to each of the two areas of health and consumer protection which should be 
addressed through actions and instruments specific to each of the two areas. 

Coordination with other Community policies and programmes is a key part of the joint 
objective of mainstreaming health and consumer policies in other policies. In order to 
promote  synergies  and  avoid  duplication,  appropriate  use  will  be  made  of  other 
Community funds and programmes including the Community framework programmes 
for research and their outcomes, the Structural Funds, and the Community Statistical 
Programme. 

It  is  of  general  European  interest  that  the  health,  safety  and  economic  interests  of 
citizens,  as  well  as  consumer  interests  in  the  development  of  standards  for  products 
and  services,  be  represented  at  Community  level.  Key  objectives  of  the  programme 
may also depend on the existence of specialised networks that also require Community 
contributions  to  enable  them  to  develop  and  function.  Given  the  particular  nature  of 
the  organisations  concerned  and  in  cases  of  exceptional  utility,  the  renewal  of 
Community support to the functioning of such organisations should not be subject to 
the principle of gradual decrease of the extent of Community support. 

EN 

19 

   EN 

 
(7) 

(8) 

(9) 

Implementation of the programme should build upon and extend existing actions and 
structural  arrangements  in  the  fields  of  public  health  and  consumer  protection, 
including  the  Executive  Agency  for  the  Public  Health  Programme  set  up  by 
Commission  Decision  2004/858/EC7.  Implementation  should  be  carried  out  in  close 
cooperation with relevant organisations and agencies, in particular with the European 
Centre  for  Disease  Prevention  and  Control8  established  by  Regulation  (EC)  No 
851/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council. 

The measures necessary for the implementation of this Decision should be adopted in 
accordance  with  Council  Decision  1999/468/EC  of  28  June  1999  laying  down  the 
procedures  for  the  exercise  of  implementing  powers  conferred  on  the  Commission9, 
respecting  the  need  for  transparency  as  well  as  a  reasonable  balance  between  the 
different objectives of the programme. 

The Agreement on  the European Economic Area (hereinafter referred to as the EEA 
Agreement) provides for cooperation in the fields of health and consumer protection 
between  the  European  Community  and  its  Member  States,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
countries  of  the  European  Free  Trade  Association  participating  in  the  European 
Economic  Area  (hereinafter  referred  to  as  the  EFTA/EEA  countries),  on  the  other. 
Provision  should  also  be  made  to  open  the  programme  to  participation  by  other 
countries,  in  particular  the  neighbouring  countries  of  the  Community,  countries  that 
are applying for, candidates for or acceding to membership of the Community, taking 
particular  account  of  the  potential  for  threats  to  health  arising  in  other  countries  to 
have an impact within the Community. 

(10)  Appropriate  relations  with  third  countries  not  participating  in  the  programme  should 
be facilitated in order to help achieve the objectives of the programme, taking account 
of  any  relevant  agreements  between  those  countries  and  the  Community.  This  may 
involve  third  countries  taking  forward  complementary  activities  to  those  financed 
through  this  programme  on  areas  of  mutual  interest,  but  will  not  involve  a  financial 
contribution under this programme. 

(11) 

It is appropriate to develop cooperation with relevant international organisations such 
as  the  United  Nations  and  its  specialised  agencies  including  the  World  Health 
Organisation,  as  well  as  with  the  Council  of  Europe  and  the  Organisation  for 
Economic Cooperation and Development with a view to implementing the programme 
through maximising the effectiveness and efficiency of actions relating to health and 
consumer  protection  at  Community  and  international  level,  taking  account  of  the 
particular capacities and roles of the different organisations.  

(12) 

In  order  to  increase  the  value  and  impact  of  the  programme  there  should  be  regular 
monitoring  and  evaluation,  including  independent  external  evaluations,  of  the 
measures taken. 

7 
8 
9 

OJ L 369, 16.12.2004, p. 73. 
OJ L 142, 30.4.2004, p. 1. 
OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. 

EN 

20 

   EN 

 
                                                 
(13)  Since  the  objectives  of  the  action  to  be  taken  on  health  and  consumer  protection 
cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States due to the trans-national nature 
of  the  issues  involved,  and  can  therefore  by  reason  of  the  potential  for  Community 
action  to  be  more  efficient  and  effective  than  national  action  alone  in  protecting  the 
health,  safety  and  economic  interests  of  citizens,  be  better  achieved  at  Community 
level,  the  Community  may  adopt  measures,  in  accordance  with  the  principle  of 
subsidiarity  set  out  in  Article  5  of  the  Treaty.  In  accordance  with  the  principle  of 
proportionality,  as  set  out  in  that  Article,  this  decision  does  not  go  beyond  what  is 
necessary in order to achieve those objectives. 

(14)  The Commission should ensure an appropriate transition between this programme and 
the  two  programmes  it  replaces,  in  particular  regarding  the  continuation  of  multi-
annual measures and administrative support structures such as the Executive Agency 
for the Public Health Programme. 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

Article 1 

Establishment of the programme 

A programme of Community action in the field of health and consumer protection covering 
the  period  from  1  January  2007  to  31  December  2013,  hereinafter  referred  to  as  ‘the 
programme’ is hereby established. 

Article 2 

Aim and objectives 

1. 

2. 

The programme shall complement and support the policies of the Member States and 
shall contribute to protecting the health, safety and economic interests of citizens. 

The  aim  referred  to  in  paragraph  1  shall  be  pursued  through  common  objectives 
together with specific objectives in the fields of health and consumer protection. 

(a)  The  common  objectives  for  health  and  consumer  protection  to  be  pursued 
through  the  actions  and  instruments  set  out  in  Annex  1  to  this  Decision  shall 
be: 

– 

– 

to  protect  citizens  from  risks  and  threats  that  are  beyond  the  control  of 
individuals; 

to  increase  the  ability  of  citizens  to  take  better  decisions  about  their 
health and consumer interests; 

– 

and to mainstream health and consumer policy objectives. 

EN 

21 

   EN 

 
(b)  The  specific  health  objectives  to  be  pursued  through  the  actions  and 

instruments set out in Annex 2 to this Decision shall be: 

– 

– 

– 

– 

to protect citizens against health threats; 

to promote policies that lead to a healthier way of life; 

to contribute to reducing the incidence of major diseases; 

and to improve efficiency and effectiveness in health systems. 

(c)  The specific consumer protection objectives to be pursued through the actions 

and instruments set out in Annex 3 to this Decision shall be: 

– 

– 

– 

– 

a better understanding of consumers and markets; 

better consumer protection regulation; 

better enforcement, monitoring and redress; 

and better informed and educated and responsible consumers. 

Article 3 

Methods of implementation 

1. 

2. 

Actions in pursuit of the aims and objectives set out in Article 2 shall make full use 
of appropriate available methods of implementation, including in particular: 

(a) 

direct or indirect implementation by the Commission on a centralised basis; 

(b) 

and joint management with international organisations.  

For the purpose of paragraph 1(a) above, financial contributions by the Community 
shall not exceed the following levels: 

(a) 

60%  for  an  action  intended  to  help  achieve  an  objective  forming  part  of  a 
Community policy within the field of health and consumer protection, except 
in  cases  of  exceptional  utility  where  the  Community  contribution  shall  not 
exceed 80%; and, 

(b)  60% of expenditure for  the  functioning  of  a  body  pursuing  an  aim  of  general 
European interest where such support is necessary to ensure representation of 
health  or  consumer  interests  at  Community  level  or  to  implement  key 
objectives  of  the  programme,  except  in  cases  of  exceptional  utility  where  the 
Community contribution shall not exceed 95%. The renewal of such financial 
contributions may be exempted from the principle of gradual decrease. 

3. 

For the purpose of paragraph 1(a) above, financial contributions by the Community 
may, where appropriate given the nature of the objective to be achieved, include joint 
financing by the Community and one or more Member States or by the Community 

EN 

22 

   EN 

 
and  the  competent  authorities  of  other  participating  countries.  In  this  case,  the 
Community contribution shall not exceed 50%, except in cases of exceptional utility, 
where  the  Community  contribution  shall  not  exceed  70%.  These  Community 
contributions  may  be  awarded  to  a  public  body  or  a  non-profit-making  body 
designated by the Member State or the competent authority concerned and agreed by 
the Commission. 

4. 

For the purpose of paragraph 1(a) above, financial contributions by the Community 
may also be given in the form of flat-rate financing where this is suited to the nature 
of  the  actions  concerned.  For  such  financial  contributions  the  percentage  limits 
stipulated  in  paragraphs  2  and  3  above  shall  not  apply.  The  criteria  for  selecting, 
monitoring and evaluating such actions shall be adapted as necessary. 

Article 4 

Implementation of the programme 

The  Commission  shall  ensure  the  implementation  of  the  programme  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions of Article 7. 

Article 5 

Funding 

1. 

2. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

The  financial  framework  for  the  implementation  of  the  programme  for  the  period 
specified in Article 1 is EUR 1 203 million. 

Annual  appropriations  shall  be  authorised  by  the  budgetary  authority  within  the 
limits of the financial perspective. 

Article 6 

Committee 

The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee (hereinafter ‘the Committee’). 

Where  reference  is  made  to  this  paragraph,  Articles  4  and  7  of  Decision 
1999/468/EC  shall  apply,  having  regard  to  the  provisions  of  Article  8  thereof.  The 
period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at two months. 

Where  reference  is  made  to  this  paragraph,  Articles  3  and  7  of  Decision 
1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof. 

The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure. 

EN 

23 

   EN 

 
Article 7 

Implementation measures 

1. 

The  measures  necessary  for  the  implementation  of  this  Decision  relating  to  the 
following shall be adopted in accordance with the management procedure referred to 
in Article 6(2): 

(a) 

the annual plan of work for the implementation of the programme, setting out 
priorities  and  actions  to  be  undertaken,  including  the  allocation  of  resources 
and relevant criteria; 

(b) 

the arrangements for evaluating the programme referred to in Article 10. 

2. 

The Commission shall adopt any other measures necessary for the implementation of 
this Decision. The Committee shall be informed of them. 

Article 8 

Participation of third countries 

The programme shall be open to the participation of: 

(a) 

(b) 

the EFTA/EEA countries in accordance with the conditions established in the EEA 
Agreement; 

and third countries, in particular countries in the European neighbourhood, countries 
that are applying for, candidates for or acceding to membership of the Union, and the 
western  Balkan  countries  included  in  the  stabilisation  and  association  process,  in 
accordance  with  the  conditions  laid  down  in  the  respective  bilateral  or  multilateral 
agreements  establishing  the  general  principles  for  their  participation  in  Community 
programmes. 

Article 9 

International cooperation 

In  the  course  of  implementing  the  programme,  relations  with  third  countries  that  are  not 
participating in the programme and relevant international organisations shall be encouraged. 

Article 10 

Monitoring, evaluation and dissemination of results 

1. 

The  Commission,  in  close  cooperation  with  the  Member  States,  shall  monitor  the 
implementation of the actions of the programme in the light of its objectives. It shall 
report to the Committee, and shall keep the Council and Parliament informed. 

EN 

24 

   EN 

 
2. 

3. 

4. 

At  the  request  of  the  Commission,  Member  States  shall  submit  information  on  the 
implementation and impact of this programme. 

The  Commission  shall  ensure  that  the  programme  is  evaluated  three  years  after  its 
start and following the end of the programme. The Commission shall communicate 
the conclusions thereof, accompanied by its comments, to the European Parliament, 
the  Council,  the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  the  Committee  of 
the Regions. 

The Commission shall make the results of actions undertaken in accordance with this 
Decision publicly available and shall ensure their dissemination. 

Article 11 

Repeal 

Decisions No 1786/2002/EC and No 20/2004/EC are repealed. 

Article 12 

Transitional measures 

The  Commission  shall  adopt  any  measures  necessary  to  ensure  the  transition  between  the 
measures  adopted  under  Decisions  No  1786/2002/EC  and  No  20/2004/EC  and  those  to  be 
implemented under this programme. 

Article 13 

Final provision 

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official 
Journal of the European Union. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

EN 

25 

   EN 

 
ANNEX 1 – Strengthening synergies through common actions and instruments 

Objectives 

1. 

2. 

3. 

To  protect  citizens  from  risks  and  threats  that  are  beyond  the  control  of 
individuals (e.g. health threats which affect the society as a whole, unsafe products, 
unfair commercial practices). 

To increase the ability of citizens to take better decisions about their health and 
consumer interests.  

To mainstream health and consumer policy objectives. 

Actions and instruments 

1. 

IMPROVE COMMUNICATION WITH EU CITIZENS ON HEALTH AND CONSUMER ISSUES 

1.1.  Awareness-raising campaigns. 

1.2.  Surveys. 

1.3.  Conferences, seminars, experts and stakeholders meetings. 

1.4.  Publications on issues of interest for health and for consumer policy. 

1.5.  Provision of online information. 

1.6.  Developing and use of information points. 

2. 

INCREASE CIVIL SOCIETY AND STAKEHOLDERS’ PARTICIPATION IN POLICY-MAKING 
RELATED TO HEALTH AND CONSUMER PROTECTION 

2.1.  Promote and strengthen Community level consumer and health organisations. 

2.2.  Training and capacity-building for consumer and health organisations.  

2.3.  Networking of non-governmental consumer and health organisations and other 

stakeholders. 

2.4.  Strengthening of Community-level consultative bodies and mechanisms. 

3. 

DEVELOP  A  COMMON  APPROACH  FOR  INTEGRATING  HEALTH  AND  CONSUMER 
CONCERNS INTO OTHER COMMUNITY POLICIES 

3.1.  Development  and  application  of  methods  to  assess  the  impact  of  Community 

policies and activities on health and consumer interests. 

3.2.  Exchange best practice with Member States on national policies. 

3.3.  Studies on impact of other policies on health and consumer protection. 

EN 

26 

   EN 

 
4. 

PROMOTE  INTERNATIONAL  CO-OPERATION  RELATED  TO  HEALTH  AND  CONSUMER 
PROTECTION 

4.1.  Co-operation measures with international organisations. 

4.2.  Co-operation  measures  with  third  countries  who  are  not  participating  in  the 

programme. 

4.3.  Encourage health and consumer organisations’ dialogue. 

5. 

IMPROVE  THE  EARLY  DETECTION,  EVALUATION  AND  COMMUNICATION  OF  RISKS 
BY: 

5.1.  Supporting  scientific  advice  and  risk  evaluation,  including  the  tasks  of  the 
independent  scientific  committees  established  by  Commission  Decision 
2004/210/EC1. 

5.2.  The  collection  and  collation  of  information  and  establishment  of  networks  of 

specialists and institutes.  

5.3.  Promoting 

the  development  and  harmonisation  of 

risk  assessment 

methodologies. 

5.4.  Actions  for  collecting  and  assessing  information  on  the  exposure  of 
populations  and  sub-groups  to  chemical,  biological  and  physical  hazards  to 
health. 

5.5.  Establishing  mechanisms  concerning  early  detection  of  emerging  risks  and 

action on newly identified risks. 

5.6.  Strategies to improve risk communication.  

5.7.  Training in risk assessment.  

6. 

PROMOTE THE SAFETY OF GOODS AND OF SUBSTANCES OF HUMAN ORIGIN 

6.1.  Analysis of injury data and development of best practice guidelines in relation 

to the safety of consumer products and services.  

6.2.  Development  of  methodologies  and  database  maintenance  for  the  purpose  of 
data collection on injuries in relation to the safety of consumer products. 

6.3.  Activities  to  help  enhance  the  safety  and  quality  of  organs  and  substances  of 
human origin, including blood, blood components and blood precursors. 

1 

OJ L 66, 4.3.2004, p. 45. 

EN 

27 

   EN 

 
                                                 
6.4.  Promoting  the  availability  and  accessibility  across  the  Community  of  organs 
and  substances  of  human  origin  of  high  quality  and  safety  for  medical 
treatments. 

6.5.  Technical assistance for the analysis of issues related to the development and 

implementation of policies and legislation. 

EN 

28 

   EN 

 
ANNEX 2 - HEALTH 

ACTIONS AND SUPPORT MEASURES 

Objective one: protect citizens against health threats 

1. 

ENHANCE SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL OF HEALTH THREATS BY 

1.1.  Enhancing  the  capacity  to  tackle  communicable  diseases  by  supporting  the 
further  implementation  of  Decision  No  2119/98/EC  on  the  Community 
network  on  the  epidemiological  surveillance  and  control  of  communicable 
diseases; 

1.2.  Developing strategies and mechanisms for preventing, exchanging information 

on and responding to non-communicable disease threats; 

1.3.  Exchanging information on strategies and developing joint strategies to detect 
and  obtain  reliable  information  on  health  threats  from  physical,  chemical  or 
biological  sources,  including  those  relating  to  deliberate  release  acts,  and 
developing  and  using,  when  appropriate,  Community  approaches  and 
mechanisms;  

1.4.  Improving laboratory co-operation to assure high quality diagnostic capabilities 
for  pathogens  across  the  Community,  including  a  Community  reference 
laboratory 
enhanced  Community 
collaboration; 

for  pathogens 

requiring 

structure 

1.5.  Developing  new  and  improved  prevention,  vaccination  and  immunisation 

policies, partnerships and tools and monitoring immunisation status; 

1.6.  Developing  and  implementing  vigilance  networks  and  reporting  systems  for 
adverse  events  when  using  preventive  health  measures  and  substances  of 
human origin; 

1.7.  Technical assistance for the analysis of issues related to the development and 

implementation of policies and legislation.  

2. 

DELIVER RESPONSE TO HEALTH THREATS BY 

2.1.  Elaborating risk management procedures for health emergencies and enhancing 

capability for coordinated responses to health emergencies; 

2.2.  Developing and maintaining capacity for appraising and addressing the needs 
in  preparedness  and  response  and  for  rapid  and  reliable 

and  gaps 
communications and consultation on counter-measures; 

2.3.  Developing  risk  communication  strategies  and  tools  for  information  and 
guidance to the public, and health professionals, and improving awareness and 
interaction among actors; 

EN 

29 

   EN 

 
2.4.  Developing  strategies  and  procedures  for  drawing  up,  testing,  evaluating  and 
revising  general  contingency  and  specific  health  emergency  plans  and  their 
inter-operability between Member States and conducting exercises and tests; 

2.5.  Developing  strategies  and  mechanisms  for  reviewing  and  improving  the 
availability  and  adequacy  of,  and  access  to  facilities  (e.g.  laboratories)  and 
equipment  (detectors  etc),  as  well  as  readiness,  surge  capacity  and 
infrastructure of the health sector to react rapidly; 

2.6.  Developing  strategies  and  mechanisms  for  assessing  the  need  for  and 
promoting  the  establishment  of  public  health  assets  that  can  be  deployed 
rapidly  in  emergencies  and  setting-up  mechanisms  and  procedures  for  health 
assets transfer to requesting states and international organisations; 

2.7.  Establishment  and  maintenance  of  a  trained  and  permanently  available  core 
group of public health experts for global rapid deployment to places of major 
health  crises  together  with  mobile  laboratories,  protective  equipment  and 
isolation facilities. 

Objective 2: promote policies that lead to a healthier way of life 

3. 

PROMOTE HEALTH BY TACKLING DETERMINANTS  

Actions will support the preparation, development and implementation of activities, 
strategies and measures on health determinants by addressing: 

3.1.  Health  determinants  linked  to  addictions,  notably  tobacco,  alcohol  and  drugs 

and other addictive substances; 

3.2.  Lifestyle  related  health  determinants,  notably  nutrition  and  physical  activity, 

sexual health and reproductive health; 

3.3.  Social  and  economic  determinants  of  health,  with  a  particular  focus  on 
inequalities  in  health  and  on  the  impact  of  social  and  economic  factors  on 
health; 

3.4.  Environmental determinants of health, with a particular emphasis on the health 

impact of environmental factors; 

3.5.  The quality, efficiency and cost effectiveness of public health interventions;  

3.6.  Support for public awareness activities, training and capacity building actions 

related to the priorities set out in the previous paragraphs; 

3.7.  Technical assistance for the analysis of issues related to the development and 

implementation of policies and legislation. 

EN 

30 

   EN 

 
 
 
Objective 3: contribute to reducing the incidence of major diseases 

4. 

PREVENT DISEASES AND INJURIES  

In coordination with work on health determinants, the programme shall support:  

4.1.  Development  and  implementation  of  actions  on  major  diseases  of  particular 
significance in view of the overall burden of disease in the Community where 
Community action can provide significant added value to national efforts;  

4.2.  Preparation  and  implementation  of  strategies  and  measures  on  disease 
prevention, in particular by identifying best practice and developing guidelines 
and recommendations, including on secondary prevention, screening and early 
detection; 

4.3.  Exchange  of  best  practice  and  knowledge  as  well  as  the  coordination  of 

strategies to promote mental health and to prevent mental illness; 

4.4.  Preparation  and  implementation  of  strategies  and  measures  on  prevention  of 

injuries; 

4.5.  Support for knowledge exchange, training and capacity building actions related 

to the diseases addressed and injury prevention. 

Objective 4: improving effectiveness and efficiency in health systems 

5. 

ACHIEVE SYNERGIES BETWEEN NATIONAL HEALTH SYSTEMS BY 

5.1.  Facilitating  cross-border  healthcare  purchasing  and  provision,  including 
information  gathering  and  exchange  to  enable  sharing  of  capacity  and  use  of 
cross-border care;  

5.2.  Sharing  information  on  and  managing  the  consequences  of  the  mobility  of 

health professionals; 

5.3.  Establishing a Community system for cooperation on centres of reference and 
other  collaborative  structures  between  health  systems  of  more  than  one 
Member State;  

5.4.  Developing  a  network  for  strengthening  the  capacity  to  develop  and  share 
information  and  assessments  regarding  health  technologies  and  techniques 
(health technology assessment); 

5.5.  Providing information for patients, professionals and policy-makers, on health 
systems and medical care in liaison with overall health information actions, and 
including  mechanisms  for  sharing  and  disseminating  information  with  the 
action plan for a European e-health area; 

EN 

31 

   EN 

 
5.6.  Developing  instruments  for  assessing  the  impact  of  Community  policies  on 

health systems; 

5.7.  Developing  and  implementing  actions  to  promote  patient  safety  and  high-

quality care; 

5.8.  Supporting health systems policy development, in particular linked to the open 

method of coordination on healthcare and long-term care. 

Actions contributing to all the above objectives:  

6. 

TO IMPROVE HEALTH INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF 
PUBLIC HEALTH BY: 

6.1.  Continue  further  developing  a  sustainable  health  monitoring  system,  paying 
special attention to health inequalities and covering data on health status, health 
determinants, health systems and injuries; the statistical element of this system 
will  be  further  developed,  using  as  necessary  the  Community  Statistical 
Programme. 

6.2.  Providing other relevant health related knowledge; 

6.3.  Defining relevant additional indicators; 

6.4.  Developing appropriate mechanisms of reporting; 

6.5.  Arranging  for  regular  collection  of  such  information,  together  with  the 
Statistical  Programme,  international  organisations,  agencies  and  through 
projects; 

6.6.  Supporting  analysis  of  Community  health  issues  through  regular  Community 
health  reports,  the  maintenance  of  diffusion  mechanisms  such  as  the  Health 
Portal, support for consensus conferences and targeted information campaigns 
coordinated between concerned parties; 

6.7.  Focusing on providing a regular and reliable source of information to citizens, 
to  decision  makers,  to  patients,  carers,  health  professionals  and  to  other 
interested parties; 

6.8.  Developing strategies and mechanisms for preventing, exchanging information 

on and responding to rare diseases. 

EN 

32 

   EN 

 
ANNEX 3: Consumer Policy – Actions and Support Measures 

Objective I - A better understanding of consumers and markets 

Monitoring  and  assessment  of  market  developments  with  an  impact  on  the 
Action 1: 
economic and other interests of consumers, including price surveys, inventory and analysis of 
consumer  complaints,  analysis  of  cross-border  marketing  and  business-to-consumer 
purchases, and surveys of changes in the structure of markets. 

Action 2: 
The collection and exchange of data and information that provide an evidence 
base for the development of consumer policy and for the integration of consumer interests in 
other Community policies, including, surveys of consumer and business attitudes, consumer-
related  and  other  market  research  in  the  financial  services  area,  collection  and  analysis  of 
statistical and other relevant data, the statistical element of which will be developed using as 
necessary the Community Statistical Programme. 

Action 3: 
The  collection,  exchange,  analysis  of  data  and  development  of  assessment 
tools that provide a scientific evidence base on consumer exposure to chemicals released from 
products. 

Objective II - Better consumer protection regulation 

Action 4: 
self-regulatory initiatives, including: 

Preparation  of  legislative  and  other  regulatory  initiatives  and  promotion  of 

4.1. 

Comparative analysis of markets and regulatory systems 

4.2. 

Legal and technical expertise for policy making on the safety of services 

4.3 

4.4 

Technical expertise in relation to assessment of the need for product safety standards 
and the drafting of CEN standardisation mandates for products and services 

Legal  and  technical  expertise  for  policy  development  on  the  economic  interests  of 
consumers 

4.5 

Workshops with stakeholders and experts. 

Objective III - Better enforcement, monitoring and redress 

Action 5: 
of consumer protection legislation, including: 

Coordination of surveillance and enforcement actions linked to the application 

5.1 

Development  and  maintenance  of  IT  tools  (e.g.  databases,  information  and 
communication systems)  

5.2. 

Training, seminars, conferences on enforcement 

5.3. 

Planning and development of joint enforcement actions 

5.4. 

Pilot joint enforcement actions 

5.5. 

Analysis of enforcement problems and solutions 

EN 

33 

   EN 

 
Financial contributions for specific joint surveillance and enforcement actions 
Action 6: 
to improve administrative and enforcement cooperation on Community consumer protection 
legislation, including the General Product Safety Directive, and other actions in the context of 
administrative cooperation. 

Action 7: 
including: 

Monitoring  and  assessment  of  the  safety  of  non-food  products  and  services, 

7.1. 

Reinforcement and extension of the scope and operation of the RAPEX alert system, 
taking developments in market surveillance information exchange into account 

7.2. 

Technical analysis of alert notifications 

7.3. 

7.4. 

Collection and assessment of data on the risks posed by specific consumer products 
and services 

Further  development  of  the  consumer  product  safety  network  as  provided  for  in 
Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council23.  

Action 8: 
dispute resolution schemes on consumers. 

Monitoring  of  the  functioning  and  assessment  of  the  impact  of  alternative 

Action 9: 
Monitoring  of  the  transposition  and  implementation  of  consumer  protection 
legislation  by  Member  States,  notably  the  Unfair  Commercial  Practices  Directive,  and  of 
national consumer policies. 

Action 10: 
support their contribution to enforcement and surveillance actions. 

Provision of specific technical and legal expertise to consumer organisations to 

Objective IV. Better informed and educated and responsible consumers 

Action 11:  Development  and  maintenance  of  easily  and  publicly  accessible  databases 
covering the application of and case-law on Community consumer protection legislation.  

Action 12: 
new Member States, in cooperation with their consumer organisations.  

Information  actions  about  consumer  protection  measures,  particularly  in  the 

Action 13: 
the development of interactive consumer education tools. 

Consumer  education,  including  the  actions  targeted  at  young  consumers,  and 

Action 14: 
forums, including international standardisation bodies and international trade organisations.  

Representation  of  the  interests  of  Community  consumers  in  international 

Action 15: 
organisations and other capacity building actions. 

Training  for  staff  members  of  regional,  national  and  Community  consumer 

23 

OJ L 11, 15.1.2002, p. 4. 

EN 

34 

   EN 

 
                                                 
Financial  contributions  for  joint  actions  with  public  or  non-profit  bodies 
Action 16: 
constituting  Community  networks  that  provide  information  and  assistance  to  consumers  to 
help  them  exercise  their  rights  and  obtain  access  to  appropriate  dispute  resolution  (the 
European Consumer Centres Network). 

Financial  contributions 

Action 17: 
functioning  of  Community  consumer 
the 
organisations  representing  consumer  interests  in  the  development  of  standards  for  products 
and services at Community level. 

to 

Action 18: 
organisations. 

Financial  contributions 

to 

the 

functioning  of  Community  consumer 

Provision of specific technical and legal expertise to consumer organisations to 
Action 19: 
support their participation in, and input into, consultation processes on Community legislative 
and non-legislative policy initiatives, in relevant policy areas, such as internal market policies, 
services of general interest and the 10-year framework programme on sustainable production 
and consumption.  

Common to all objectives 

Action 20: 
support of other consumer policy objectives. 

Financial contributions for specific projects at Community or national level in 

EN 

35 

   EN 

 
LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT 

1. 

NAME OF THE PROPOSAL : 

Health and consumer protection programme 2007-2013 

2. 

ABM / ABB FRAMEWORK 

Policy area: Health and Consumer Protection (SANCO, Title 17) 

Activities: Public health / Consumer protection: 

3. 

BUDGET LINES 

3.1.  Budget  lines  (operational  lines  and  related  technical  and  administrative 

assistance lines (ex- B..A lines)) including headings : 

Current budget lines: 

ABB 17 03 01 01 Public health (2003-2008) 

ABB  17  01  04  02 :  Public  Health  –  Expenditure  for  Administrative 
management 

ABB 17 01 04 30 : Public health –Operating subsidy to the Executive Agency 
for the Public Health Programme. This line should to be renamed and 
should receive appropriations from the lines ABB 17 01 04 02 : Public 
Health – Expenditure for Administrative management and ABB 17 01 
04  03 :  Community  activities  in  favour  of  consumers  –  Expenditure 
for Administrative management. 

ABB 17 02 01 : Community activities in favour of consumers 

ABB  17  01  04  03 :  Community  activities  in  favour  of  consumers  – 
Expenditure for Administrative management 

A new budget structure will be defined after approval of the Interinstitutional 
Agreement on Financial Perspective 2007-2013. 

3.2.  Duration of the action and of the financial impact: 

Total allocation for action : 1203 € million for commitment 

Period of application:1 January 2007 – 31 December 2013 

EN 

36 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3.3.  Budgetary characteristics: 

Budget lines 

Type of expenditure 

New 

EFTA 
contribution 

Contributions 
from associated 
countries 

Heading in 
financial 
perspectives 

17 03 01 01  

17 01 04 02 

17 01 04 30 

17 02 01 

17 01 04 03 

Non-
comp 

Non-
comp 

Non-
comp 

Non-
comp 

Non-
comp 

diff 

NO 

YES 

YES 

Non-diff 

NO 

YES 

YES 

Non-diff1

  YES 

YES 

YES 

diff2

NO 

YES 

YES 

Non-diff3

NO 

YES 

YES 

No 3 

No 3 

No 3 

No 3 

No 3 

4. 

SUMMARY OF RESOURCES 

4.1.  Financial Resources 

4.1.1. Summary  of  commitment  appropriations 

(CA)  and  payment 

appropriations (PA) 

Sec-
tion 
no. 

8.1 

Expenditure 
type 

Operational 
expenditure[1] 
Commitment 
Appropriations 
(CA) 
Payment 
Appropriations 
(PA) 

a 

b 

2007 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 and 
later 

Total 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

76,055 

95,319 

111,457 

138,898 

187,668 

241,465 

258,954 

1109,815 

22,817 

59,018 

94,381 

114,848 

145,296 

189,176 

484,279 

1109,815 

1 

2 

3 

Non-differentiated appropriations hereafter referred to as NDA. 

Non-differentiated appropriations hereafter referred to as NDA. 

Non-differentiated appropriations hereafter referred to as NDA. 

EN 

37 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
                                                 
Administrative expenditure within reference amount[2] 

c 

8.2.4 

8,945 

12,543 

10,681 

Technical & 
administrative 
assistance 
(NDA) 
TTOOTTAALL  RREEFFEERREENNCCEE  
AAMMOOUUNNTT  
Commitment 
Appropriations 
Payment 
Appropriations 
Administrative expenditure not included in reference amount[3] 

124
106,92

85
31,8

106
69,7

b+c 

a+c 

153
129

14,102 

15,332 

15,535 

16,046 

93,185 

203 
160,63 

257 
204,7 

275
500,33

1203

1203

Human 
resources and 
associated 
expenditure 
(NDA) 
Administrative 
costs, other than 
human resources 
and associated 
costs, not 
included in 
reference 
amount (NDA) 

8.2.5 

d 

8,532 

8,964 

9,396 

9,828 

10,26 

10,26 

10,26 

67,5 

8.2.6 

e 

4,100 

4,121 

4,141 

4,162 

4,183 

4,204 

4,225 

20,748 

[1] Expenditure that does not fall under Chapter xx 01 of the Title xx 
concerned. 
[2] Expenditure within article xx 
01 04 of Title xx. 
[3] Expenditure within chapter xx 01 other than articles xx 01 04 or xx 01 05. 

Total indicative financial cost of 
intervention  
TOTAL CA 
including cost 
of Human 
Resources 
TOTAL PA 
including cost 
of Human 
Resources 

b+c+d+e  44,39

a+c+d+e  97,63

total 

119,08

137,54

166,99

217,443  271,46  289,485 

1299,6 

82,783

120,46

142,94

175,071  219,17 

514,81 

1299,6 

EN 

38 

   EN 

 
  
  
  
  
  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Co-financing details 

Not applicable 

4.1.2. Compatibility with Financial Programming 

X 

Proposal  is  compatible  with  Financial  perspective  2007-2013 
as  proposed  by  the  Commission  (COM  (2004)  101  of  26 
February 2004). 

4.1.3. Financial impact on Revenue 

X 

Proposal has no financial implications on revenue 

4.2.  Human  Resources  FTE  (including  officials,  temporary  and  external  staff)  – 

see detail under point 8.2.1. 

Annual requirements 

2007 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

Total number of 
human resources* 

79 

83 

87 

91 

95 

95 

95 

* 

of which 20 new posts with a breakdown of 4 new posts each year from 2007 to 2011 

EN 

39 

   EN 

 
5. 

CHARACTERISTICS AND OBJECTIVES: 

5.1.  Need to be met in the short or long term 

The  Communication  and  the  programme  proposal  bring  together  Public 
Health  and  Consumer  protection  policies  and  programmes  under  one 
framework  to  make  EU  policy  work  better  for  citizens.  Many  objectives 
of  health  and  consumer  actions  under  Treaty  articles  152  and  153  are 
shared: promoting health protection, information and education, safety and 
integration  of  health  and  consumer  concerns  into  all  policies.  Health  and 
consumer policies also use many similar types of actions to pursue their 
objectives  e.g.  information  to  citizens,  consultation  of  stakeholders, 
mainstreaming activities, risk assessment. Bringing the two areas together 
will  thus  lead  to  greater  policy  coherence,  economies  of  scale  and 
increased visibility. 

5.2.  Value added of Community involvement and coherence of the proposal with 

other financial instruments and possible synergy 

The  EU,  national  and  regional  authorities,  citizens,  businesses  and  civil 
society have a role to play in improving the health, wellbeing and welfare 
of  European  citizens.  There  are  however  several  shared  health  and 
consumer  policy  challenges  that  only  action  at  EU  level  can  tackle. 
Greater  mobility  and  more  communication  have  benefited  citizens.  But 
they have also increased the risk of spreading health threats such as SARS 
and  other  communicable  diseases  (which  cannot  be  addressed  by 
individual Member States alone) and scams e.g. from bogus lotteries. The 
complexity of modern life has brought more choice for citizens. But it has 
also made it harder for them to make the best choices.  

The proposed strategy and programme aim to implement articles 152 and 
153  of  the  Treaty  as  regards  Community  action  on  health  and  consumer 
protection,  by  complementing  national  action  with  value-added 
measures which cannot be taken at national level.  

Bringing health and consumer protection under a common framework will 
lead  to  important  synergies  in  terms  of  objectives  and  actions,  and 
enhance  policy  coherence.  Merging  the  two  programmes  will  also 
streamline administrative procedures (with a common set of tools and a 
unified budget) and increase visibility of policy actions vis-à-vis European 
citizens and within the EU institutions. 

EN 

40 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
The  joint  Health  and  Consumer  programme  builds  on  the  two  existing 
programmes and maintains their core elements. It also expands health and 
consumer protection activities and builds bridges between the two in order 
to respond to stakeholders’ concerns.  

Clearly,  EU  action  on  food  safety  also  has  an  important  contribution  to 
making citizens healthier, safer and more confident. The Commission will 
build synergies with food safety policy which is not explicitly covered in 
this strategy, for example when working on nutrition.  

Synergies  will  be  ensured  with  other  major  instruments.  One  of  the 
common objectives of the proposed health and consumer programme is to 
mainstream  health  and  consumer  interests  in  other  policies  to  reflect  the 
obligations  of  articles  152  and  153  of  the  Treaty.  Actions  will  be 
developed building on and extending current activities.  

For  example  health  has  been  more  closely  associated  to  the  Structural 
Funds  and  the  research  programme  when  designing  the  new  legal  bases. 
Particular  attention  has  also  been  given  to  ensure  synergies  with  the 
Solidarity  Fund.  Similarly,  consumer  interests  have  to  be  integrated  into 
areas  of  policy  such  as  the  development  of  the  internal  market, 
competition or services of general interest. 

5.3.  Objectives  and  expected  results  of  the  proposal  in  the  context  of  the  ABM 

framework 

The  overall  goal  of  the  EU  Health  and  Consumer  Policy  is  to  improve  the 
quality of  life  for EU  citizens,  in  terms  of  their health  and  their  consumer 
interests. This will contribute to making Europe’s citizens healthier, safer and 
more confident, providing the means for economic and social inclusion, and 
thus giving substance to EU citizenship. As regards health, progress towards 
meeting  this  goal  will  be  assessed  with  the  Healthy  Life  Years  Structural 
Indicator. 

Protection and promotion of health and consumer interests depends on many 
factors.  Citizens  themselves,  through  their  own  choices,  can  improve  their 
health and protect their interests as consumers. But much depends on external 
factors that public policy needs to address.  

EN 

41 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5.3.1. Core joint objectives  

•EU Health and Consumer policies have three core joint objectives: 

1. 

2. 

Protect citizens from risks and threats which are beyond the 
control  of  individuals  and  that  cannot  be  effectively  and 
completely tackled by individual Member States alone. 

Increase  the  ability  of  citizens  to  take  better  decisions  about 
their health and consumer interests. This means increasing the 
opportunities they have to exercise real choice and also equipping 
them with the knowledge they need. 

3.  Mainstream  health  and  consumer  policy  objectives  across  all 
Community policies in order to put health and consumer issues at 
the  centre  of  policy-making.  The  EU  Treaty  recognises  this  by 
requiring that all policies take health and consumer interests into 
account4.  

5.3.2. Areas of synergy  

There  are  a  number  of  areas  of  synergy  between  EU  Health  and 
Consumer  policies.  There  is  therefore  much  scope  for  complementary 
actions with common objectives to be undertaken as outlined below. 

• 

• 

Improve  communication  with  EU  citizens.  The  aim  is  to 
improve the delivery of information citizens need to manage their 
health and consumer interests and to listen better to their concerns 
and feed this into policy-making.  

Increase  civil  society  and  stakeholders’  participation  in  EU 
policy-making.  The  aim  is  to  improve  consultation  to  ensure 
their  close  participation  in  policy-making.  Activities  would 
include  promoting  civil  society  networking,  wider  public 
consultations  and  better  representation  in  consultation  bodies. 
Civil society needs active, expert and articulate voices for health 
and consumer interests at EU level. There is still a lack of a stable 
and  credible  EU  consumer  movement  with  grassroots,  resources 
and  voice,  and  this  cannot  be  ignored  in  the  Member  States. 
Similarly, on health there is a need to increase stakeholders’ input 
into policy-making. 

4 

Articles 95, 152 and 153 of the Treaty of the Union. 

EN 

42 

   EN 

 
 
                                                 
• 

• 

• 

Develop  a  common  approach  for  integrating  health  and 
consumer  concerns  into  other  EU  policies,  i.e.,  to  deliver 
within  the  Commission  the  integration  of  health  concerns  and 
consumer  interests  into  other  policies  and  to  develop  ideas  and 
share best practice with Member States on how to develop this at 
national  level.  In  the  health  area,  there  is  a  need  to  develop 
Health  Impact  Assessment  as  an  evaluation  tool.  There  is  also 
much scope for achieving synergies with other policies, including 
social policy (Health Insurance card, health and safety at work); 
applications);  Environment 
Information 
(Environment  and health action plan);  Research  (health  research 
in  the  framework  programmes);  Development  (HIV/AIDS); 
Regional policy (health in the Structural Funds) and many others.  

(eHealth 

society 

In the consumer area, most EU policies that regulate or intervene 
in  markets  or  which  affect  citizens’  rights  (data  protection, 
copyright, access to justice) have a profound effect on consumer 
outcomes.  The  main  current  areas  are  competition  policy, 
information society and essential services (or services of general 
interest),  where  core  universal  services  need  be  established  and 
maintained.  Issues  related  to  standardisation  and  developing  of 
information society are also of key importance to consumers. 

Enhance  scientific  advice  and  risk  assessment.  Tackling 
problems  that  might  impact  on  health  and  safety  requires  good 
independent scientific advice and thorough risk assessment. Risk 
assessment  is  therefore  a  fundamental  element  of  the  joint 
programme.  Proactive  risk  management  measures  will  be  taken 
by  encouraging  the  early  identification  of  emerging  risks; 
analysing their potential impact; promoting information exchange 
on hazards and exposure; fostering harmonised approaches to risk 
assessment  across  different  sectors;  promoting  training  and 
exchange  schemes  for  assessors;  and  improving  communication 
between risk assessors and stakeholders. 

Promote  the  safety  of  products  and  substances  of  human 
include  best  practice  exchange, 
origin.  Activities  would 
awareness  raising, 
training  and 
networking,  joint  surveillance  and  enforcement  projects  and 
systematic  development  of  product  safety  standards,  as  regards 
the following two categories: 

implementation  guidelines, 

• 

General product safety, which is a common thread running 
through consumer actions.  

EN 

43 

   EN 

 
 
• 

Safety of products that impact directly on health, including 
those  derived  from  substances  of  human  origin  (such  as 
blood, tissues and cells) that are not tradable for profit. The 
aim  is  to  support  Member  States’  implementation  of 
Community  legislation  and  to  promote  the  accessibility  of 
these products.  

• 

To  promote  international  cooperation,  including  co-operation 
with international organisations and third countries in the areas of 
health and consumer protection. 

The EU must take a bigger role in international health and tackle 
global health issues more. Measures foreseen include taking steps 
to  strengthen  co-operation  with  the  WHO  and  with  the  OECD. 
The  EU  must  also  support  candidate  countries  as  well  as 
neighbouring  countries  on  key  public  health  issues  and  in 
developing  their  health  systems.  Measures  foreseen  include 
bilateral initiatives with enlargement and neighbouring countries, 
exchange  of  good  practices  and  assistance  in  tackling  health 
crises. 

On  consumer  affairs,  international  regulatory  cooperation  is 
increasingly  necessary  in  areas  such  as  product  safety  and  in 
dealing  with  rogue  traders.  At  the  multilateral  level,  the 
relationship  between  trade  and  consumer  interests  is  growing. 
International  Regulatory  cooperation  also  needs 
to  be 
complemented  by  dialogue  between  civil  society  and  their 
involvement (e.g. in standardisation).  

5.3.3. Public health objectives 

First, to protect citizens against health threats. 

Second, to promote policies that lead to a healthier way of life. 

Third,  to  contribute  to  reducing  the  incidence  of  major  diseases  in 
the EU.  

Fourth,  to  contribute  to  the  development  of  more  effective  and 
efficient health systems. 

to  support 
Fifth, 
information and analysis. 

the  objectives  above  by  providing  health 

EN 

44 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Progress  towards  these  objectives  will  lead  to  enabling  European 
citizens  across  the  EU  to  enjoy  healthier  and  longer  lives  and  will 
contribute  to  reducing  the  gap  in  life  expectancy  and  health  status 
between Member  States.  Improvements  will  be monitored  through  the 
short list of Community health indicators5 and the “healthy life years” 
structural indicator. 

5.3.4. Consumer policy priority areas: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Better understanding of consumers and markets, 

Better consumer protection regulation 

Better enforcement, monitoring and redress, 

Better informed and educated consumers 

Actions  will  contribute  to  ensure  an  equally  high  level  of  protection 
for all EU consumers, wherever they live, travel to or buy from in the 
EU, from risks and threats to their interests. Action covers the safety of 
goods and services; the fairness of commercial practices and contractual 
rights for consumers; affordable access to essential services, protection 
from rogue traders and access to effective means of redress. This should 
result in reducing the lack of confidence of consumers in the internal 
market and enabling them to make free and informed choices from an 
appropriate range of products. This, in turn, will boost competition and 
make  a  significant  contribution  to  the  competitiveness  of  EU 
businesses. 

Actions  will  also  contribute  to  increase  the  capacity  of  consumers  to 
promote  their  own  interests,  as  individuals  or  though  consumer 
organisations,  i.e.,  helping  consumers  help  themselves.  This  means 
equipping consumers with the tools they need to take better and more 
rational decisions in the internal market. This includes the provision of 
information to consumers about their rights, means of redress but also 
products and the opportunities of the internal market. This also implies 
a  clear  role  for  the  representatives of  consumers,  properly  resourced 
and with sufficient expertise. 

5 

http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_information/indicators/indicators_en.htm. 

EN 

45 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
5.4.  Method of Implementation (indicative) 

Show below the method(s)6 chosen for the implementation of the action. 

X 

Centralised Management 

X 

ٱ 

Directly by the Commission 

Indirectly by delegation to: 

X 

ٱ 

ٱ 

Executive Agency 

Bodies set up by the Communities as referred to in art. 185 
of the Financial Regulation 

National  public-sector  bodies/bodies  with  public-service 
mission 

ٱ 

Shared or decentralised management 

ٱ  With Member states 

ٱ  With Third countries 

X 

Joint  management  with 
organisations in the areas of health and consumers) 

international  organisations 

(relevant 

6 

If more than one method is indicated please provide additional details in the "Relevant comments" 
section of this point. 

EN 

46 

   EN 

 
 
                                                 
6. 

MONITORING AND EVALUATION 

6.1.  Monitoring system 

The  Commission  monitors  the  most  pertinent  indicators  throughout  the 
implementation of the new joint programme. The indicators hereunder listed 
are related to the objectives described under part 5.3 . 

Objectives  

Indicators 

Strengthening synergies for policy delivery 

Improve communication with EU citizens 

number of campaigns 

number of conferences & participants 

number of publications 

satisfaction with portal, n. of users  

number information points’ users  

Increase  civil  society  and  stakeholders’ 
participation in EU policy-making 

number  of  public  consultations,  meetings,  number  of 
conferences and participants 

number of responses to open consultations 

number  of  members  of  consultation  bodies,  number  and 
regularity o meetings 

Develop  a  common  approach  for  integrating 
health and consumer concerns into other EU 
policies 

Number of joint measures with other DGs 

Number of ISC on which DG SANCO is consulted/Number of 
SANCO responses to other DGs 

Health Impact assessments undertaken 

Explicit references to health policy objectives in other policies 

scientific 

advice 

and 

risk 

Number of scientific opinions given 

Enhance 
assessment 

Community  guidelines  or  decisions  embodying  the  scientific 
opinions  

Number of product safety standards developed 

Promote 
the 
substances of human origin 

safety  of  products  and 

Promote international cooperation 

Number of initiatives with International organisations  

Number of initiatives with third countries 

Health 

protect citizens against health threats 

ECDC becomes operational  

European  co-ordination  capacity  for  responding  rapidly  to 
threats is in place 

Number of projects in this area 

EN 

47 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
promote  policies  that  lead  to  a  healthier  way  of 
life 

Number  of  new  measures  proposed  and  carried  out  in  new 
strategies 

Number of projects in this area 

Number of events 

Number of thematic platforms created 

Number  of  information/awareness  raising  publications  and 
target audience reached 

contribute  to  reducing  the  incidence  of  major 
diseases 

Number  of  new  measures  proposed  and  carried  out  in  new 
strategies 

Number of projects in this area 

Number  of  information/awareness  raising  publications  and 
events and target audience reached 

improving  effectiveness  and  efficiency 
European health systems 

in 

Number of centres of reference identified 

Number of countries participating in HTA network 

For all health objectives : Health information and 
knowledge 

Number of assessment reports 

Number of projects in this area 

Number  of  information/awareness  raising  publications  and 
events and target audience reached 

Number of hits in health portal 

Number of Health reports 

Consumer policy 

A better understanding of consumers and markets  – 

Better consumer protection regulation 

Better enforcement, monitoring and redress 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

Level of knowledge-base activity (number of reports 
and data analysis) 

integration  of  the  data  and  analyses  into  consumer-
related Commission initiatives 

Level  of  consumer  satisfaction  on 
opinions on infrigements. 

legislation, 

Businesses’ opinions on the impact of legislation 

Measure of consumers’ satisfaction 

evaluation  of  the  efficiency  of  the  different  tools, 
instruments and networks 

Better informed and educated consumers 

Measure  of  knowledge  and  satisfaction  of  consumers  on 
consumer policy and consumer protection 

EN 

48 

   EN 

 
 
 
The  implementation  of  the  Community  programme  entrusted  to  the  executive 
agency  is  subject  to  the  control  of  the  Commission  and  this  control  is  exerted 
according to the methods, the conditions, the criteria and the parameters which it 
lays  down  in  the  act  of  delegation  defined  by  Council  Regulation  (EC) 
N° 58/2003 laying down the statute for executive agencies to be entrusted with 
certain tasks in the management of Community programmes7, Article 6 (3).  

6.2.  Evaluation 

6.2.1. Ex-ante evaluation 

This  programme  proposal  is  built  on  a  series  of  existing  Community 
programmes  and  measures,  some  of  which  have  been  operational  for 
many  years,  and  which  have  been  the  subject  of  a  comprehensive 
sequence of evaluations, as well as a substantial corpus of experience of 
administering  and  implementing  the  programmes  in  the  Commission 
(and a former technical assistance office) and within the Member States 
and other participating countries (particularly the candidate countries). 

The new programme was designed taking into account in particular the 
experience  gained  through  implementing  the  programmes  on  public 
health 2003-2008 and the Consumer Policy Strategy 2002-2006. 

The hypothesis of taking no action was considered:  

• 

• 

• 

No action means failure to meet the provisions of articles 152 
and 153 of the Treaty. 

No  action  means  that  the  Commission  would  not  meet  the 
requirement  of  having  a  proper  legal  basis  for  consumer 
protection and for health actions during the period 2007-2013 as 
imposed  by 
the  new  financial  perspectives.  (The  Health 
Programme expires at the end of 2008; the consumer programme 
at  the  end  of  2007).  This  would  make  it  very  difficult  to  fulfil 
various legal obligations. 

No action would mean that it would not be possible to take action 
to  increase  consumers’  confidence  in  goods  and  services  from 
other  Member  States  with  consequent  implications  for  the 
effectiveness of the single market. This would cause problems for 
business  which  would  continue  to  be  confronted  with  a 
fragmented market. 

7 

OJ L 11, 16.1.2003, p. 1.  

EN 

49 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
• 

• 

No  action  would  mean  that  the  Commission  would  not  fulfil  its 
commitment  to  present  a  health  strategy,  following  an  open 
consultation  in  2004,  intended  to  help  prepare  the  ground  for  a 
new strategy. In terms of effects on health, some serious negative 
impact  would  arise  following  the  expiry  of  the  current  health 
programme. Health protection in Europe would be undermined as 
essential  health  threat  surveillance  systems  and  alert  mecanisms 
would  find  it  difficult  to  operate.  There  would  be  inadequate 
information  about  important  health  trends  and  developments  as 
mechanisms  to  collect  and  analyse  the  data  would  not  function 
effectively.  This  would  make  it  harder  for  health  authorities  to 
plan and develop policies and for citizens to take decisions. There 
would  also  be  a  great  reduction  in  actions  against  trans-frontier 
health threats eg HIV/AIDS and bioterrorism. 

No action would also mean that the Commission stopped work in 
areas of central concern to its citizens daily lives and thus lost the 
possibility to increase visibility and to demonstrate the relevance 
of its action to them. 

Building a joint programme will: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

help  bring  citizens’  issues  to  the  forefront  of  the  EU  agenda  by 
providing  a  joint  framework  for  two  policies  that  impact  on 
citizens’ day-to-day life. 

(e.g.  health  protection,  citizens’ 

generate  synergies,  exploiting 
the  common  objectives  of 
articles 152 (public health) and 153 (consumer protection) of the 
information  and 
Treaty 
education, mainstreaming) and common elements of work under 
health  and  consumer  policies  (e.g.  co-operation  with  Member 
States,  contacts  with  civil  society,  risk  assessment,  international 
dimension). 

enhance  the  coherence  of  EU  policies,  in  response  to  Treaty 
articles 152 and 153, which require the integration of health and 
consumer interests in other policy areas. 

streamline  and  simplify  administrative  and  budgetary 
procedures making Community action more visible, transparent, 
operational,  effective  and  also  flexible  (one  single  programme, 
one set of procedures, common set of tools, one budget line). 

EN 

50 

   EN 

 
 
In  addition  the  existing  executive  agency  for  the  public  health 
programme could have its current mandate adapted to be able to 
ensure  the  management  tasks  of  the  new  programme,  including 
budgetary  tasks,  which  would  constitute  the  best  management 
instrument  at  the  disposal  of  the  Commission8.  This  will  in 
particular ensure : 

–  Multiplier  effect  (leverage)  enabling  the  Commission  to 

concentrate on its core competencies; 

– 

– 

– 

Effectiveness  and  flexibility  in  the  implementation  of 
outsourced tasks; 

Simplification of the procedures used; 

Proximity  of 
beneficiaries. 

the  outsourced  action 

to 

the 

final 

(a) 

In the public health area 

The  public  health  programme  2003-2008,  adopted  in  September  2002,9 
represents  a  major  step  forward  for  the  implementation  of  the  provisions  of 
Article 152 of the EC Treaty. It provides for the integrated development of a 
strategy aimed on the one hand at ensuring a high level of health protection in 
all  Community  policies  and  actions  and,  on  the  other,  at  supplementing  and 
coordinating policies and actions carried out by the Member States in the field 
of  health  surveillance  and  information  systems,  combating  transmissible 
diseases and disease prevention. 

In designing the new joint programme proposal, special attention was given to 
building  upon  the  experience  acquired  during  the  first  years  of  operation  of 
the  2003-2008  programme,  as  well  as  to  integrating  the  work  carried  out  in 
various consultations, fora and groups. 

8 

9 

See  also  the  study  "Cost-effectiveness  assessment  of  externalisation  of  European  Community'  s 
public health action programme" by Eureval-C3E, of 21.6.2002. 
Decision No 1786/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2002 
adopting a programme of Community action in the field of public health (2003-2008), OJ L 271, 
9/10/2002. 

EN 

51 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
Preparatory work on the health strategy 

An  open  consultation  on  the  future  Health  Strategy  was  launched  in 
July 2004.  The  consultation  was  carried  out  on  the  basis  of  a  public 
consultation document published on the web-site. All interested parties from 
the  public  health  area,  public  bodies,  interest  groups  and  individual 
citizens, were invited to participate in the consultation, by means of a written 
contribution.  Almost  200  contributions  from  national  and  regional 
authorities,  NGOs,  universities,  individual  citizens  and  companies  have 
reached the Commission, Following the analysis of the results, a number 
of  policy  priority  areas  have  been  identified  making  it  necessary  to  re-
orient  existing  work  in  order  to  refine  the  policy  priorities.  The  result  is 
available in the Commission website10.  

Approximately  1/4  of  all  respondents  including  Ireland,  Sweden,  the 
Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Lithuania Malta and Poland urged the EU 
to pro-actively promote health and prevent illness. Measures proposed 
include  the  need  to  focus  on  children  and  teenagers,  to  implement  a 
nutrition/obesity strategy, to tackle smoking and alcohol, to address a wide 
range of issues affecting health and to act on important diseases including 
cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. 

Approximately 1/5 of all respondents including France, Germany, Ireland, 
the  Netherlands,  Sweden,  Finland  and  Lithuania  asked  the  EU  to 
mainstream  health.  Respondents  urged  the  Commission  to  implement  a 
comprehensive  and  coherent  EU  approach  to  health,  encompassing 
policies  as  diverse  as  Education,  Trade,  Internal  Market,  Social, 
Environment, Agriculture, External, Transport and Regional development. 
Several respondents including France, Ireland, Sweden and Finland raised 
the need for a Health Impact Assessment system.  

The  need  to  position  health  as  a  driver  of  economic  growth  and  to 
disseminate  evidence  was  raised  by  Ireland,  France,  the  Netherlands, 
Malta and the UK. Some NGOs and Germany, Ireland and Sweden asked 
for health to become part of the Lisbon agenda. 

Many  stressed  the  need  to  address  health  inequalities  by  increasing 
funding  for  health.  Respondents  also  urged 
involve 
stakeholders more closely in policy-making, to support the civil society, 
to take a stronger role on international health and to step up efforts in the 
analysis and dissemination of data.  

the  EU 

to 

10 

http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_overview/strategy/reflection_process_en.htm. 

EN 

52 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Finally,  many  respondents  also  urged  the  EU  to  increase  resources 
allocated  to  health,  for  the  Public  Health  Programme  to  better  serve 
policy  priorities,  to  improve  dissemination  of  project  results,  to  cover 
neighbouring countries and to increase co-funding.  

Respondents  raise  a  large  number  of  additional  specific  issues  including 
the  need  to  focus  more  on  mental  health,  the  challenges  posed  by  an 
ageing  population,  the  need  to  increase  quality  in  healthcare,  to  secure 
patients’  rights  and  safety,  to  set  clear  rules  for  patient  and  professional 
mobility, for health technology assessment and research.  

Health systems  

responded 

In 2003, a high level reflection process on patient mobility and healthcare 
developments in the EU was launched at ministerial level. Working groups 
composed of Member State health ministers or senior representatives, and 
stakeholders  met  throughout  the  year.  In  December  2003,  a  ministerial 
level  meeting  including  ministers  from  acceding  countries,  adopted  a 
report  containing  19  recommendations  for  action  at  EU  level.  The 
in 
Commission 
April 2004. To take forward these recommendations, a High Level Group 
on health services and medical care was established with working groups 
on the following areas : cross-border healthcare purchasing and provision, 
health  professionals,  centres  of  reference,  health  technology  assessment, 
information  and  e-health,  health  impact  assessment  and  health  systems, 
patient  safety.  A  report setting  out progress at  this  stage  and  orientations 
for future work was endorsed by the Council in December 2004. The need 
to  take  forward  work  on  the  cooperation  of  health  systems  justifies  the 
creation of a new action strand under the selected option. 

three  Communications11 

in  presenting 

Involvement of stakeholders 

Health policy making must respond to the needs and concerns of citizens. It is 
necessary  to  build  up  the  organisations  representing  patients  and  those 
developing the public health agenda so that civil society is able to make the 
constructive contribution needed to public health policy.  

11 

COM (2004) 301 final, COM (2004) 304., COM (2004) 356. 

EN 

53 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Currently,  patient  groups  and  non  governmental  organisations  in  the  health 
field can find it difficult to develop initiatives at EU level and to stabilise their 
organisations because they have inadequate resources.  

together 

to  discuss  policy 

issues,  requires  a 

For example active participation in the EU Health policy forum, which brings 
level  of 
stakeholders 
organisational capacity and resources that many NGOs lack. Associations are 
not funded for their core work as such, because the legal basis of the Public 
Health  Programme  2003-2008  does  not  allow  such  direct  funding.  The 
Commission is therefore proposing operational grants as well as project grants 
to provide core funding to certain NGOs, including patient groups, in order to 
help  them  develop  their  organisational  capacity  and  put  themselves  on  a 
sound basis. 

Need for additional budget and added-value 

The programme proposal reinforces the existing three strands of the Public 
Health  Programme  (Information,  Health  threats  and  promoting  health 
through  addressing  health  determinants).  The  programme  also  includes 
three  new  action  areas  which  are  essential  to  respond  to  the  needs 
identified:  response  to  health  threats,  prevention  of  diseases  and  co-
operation  between  health  systems.  Below  are  the  main  reasons  why  an 
additional budget is needed and the added value of Community action: 

First, the current health budget is too limited to fully comply with Treaty 
provisions.  For  example,  the  Community  has  a  Treaty  obligation  to 
protect  citizens  against  health  threats.  Threats  such  as  SARS  show  the 
need for increased EU capacity to help Member States react to such threats 
and  to  co-ordinate  a  response  in  order  to  minimise  the  risk  of  spread  of 
infection  within  the  EU.  The  current  budget  does  not  enable  the 
Community to effectively pursue this obligation. The Treaty also foresees 
Community  action  to  encourage  Members  States’  co-operation  on 
health.  However, so far, co-operation has been  limited to the High Level 
Group on health services which has no operational budget. 

EN 

54 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
the 

Second, 
three  new  strands  also  reflect  existing  Commission 
engagements  and  policy  developments.  The  Commission  strategic 
objectives  for  2005-2009  stress  the  importance  of  countering  threats  to 
citizens’ health and safety at EU level: hence a new strand on reaction to 
threats  which  requires  substantial  resources.  The  new  strand  on  health 
systems co-operation responds to Member States’ requests and the Lisbon 
process  conclusion  that  European  support  to  improve  health  systems  is 
“envisaged  and  can  provide  important  added  value”.  The  strand  on 
preventing  specific  diseases  responds  to  repeated  requests  and  to  the 
outcome  of  the  open  consultation  on  health.  In  addition,  the  first  two 
strands  (reaction  to  threats  and  health  systems  co-operation)  also 
correspond to two areas where the Community Health mandate would be 
expanded in the Constitution. 

Third, as underlined in the Lisbon process, there is a need to reduce the 
major  differences  between  Member  States  in  terms  of  life  expectancy, 
health  status  and  health  systems  capability.  Following  enlargement, 
supporting  in  particular  the  new  Member  States  to  develop  their  health 
systems  requires  additional  resources.  In  addition  to  infrastructure 
investment to which the Community Structural Funds can contribute, there 
is a need for the Community to help these countries in terms of training, 
expertise,  capacity  building,  preparedness,  prevention  and  promotion,  as 
well as a need for analysis on their health investment needs.  

Finally,  the  EU  population  ageing  and  its  potential  impact  on  the 
sustainability of public finances, not least from the relative decline in the 
working population, requires EU action to help Member States cope with 
this challenge. 

Cost-effectiveness 

Improving cost-efficiency is one of the main reasons for bringing together 
the  existing  Health  and  Consumer  programmes  into  a  single  framework. 
The overall programme will benefit from economies of scale and from the 
streamlining  of  administrative  and  budgetary  procedures,  including 
common  tools.  Using  the  same  tools  and  procedures  on  common  actions 
will  lead  to  savings  in  terms  of  organisation  and  management  tasks  and 
will  therefore  translate  into  a  cost/input  reduction.  The  extension  of  the 
existing Public Health Programme executive agency to support the whole 
of the proposed programme will also lead to savings in terms of input as 
regards  tasks  related  with  tendering  and  organisation  of  meetings.  The 
outsourcing of such administrative tasks to the executive agency will also 
enable  the  Commission  to  focus  on  policy  making  and  conception  tasks, 
including developing significant links with other policies. 

EN 

55 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
In the health part, more emphasis will be put on highly visible large-scale 
projects,  which  should  result  in  a  better  cost-efficiency  ratio  (small  scale 
projects  are  more  labour  intensive  and  necessarily  with  more  limited 
results).  In addition,  the  programme  foresees  improving  the way  projects 
results  are  exploited  and  disseminated,  which  will  increase  projects’ 
impact and  visibility. The outsourcing of administrative tasks will enable 
the  Commission  to  focus  on  ensuring  that  health  crises  and  emergencies 
are  better  handled,  that  project  results  are  better  disseminated,  to  expand 
work  with  stakeholders  and  to  develop  policy  work  on  e.g.  health 
inequalities,  ageing  and  children’s  health,  which  are  not  limited  to  a 
specific programme strand. 

(b)  Consumer protection 

• 

Relevance of the consumer policy part of the new Programme 

The  Consumer  Policy  Strategy  which  was  initiated  in  2002  brought 
several major improvements to the functioning of European Consumer 
policy, in particular with: 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

putting into place a mid-term programme (5 years were foreseen 
from 2002 to 2006); 

being flexible: a rolling plan of actions, revised every 18 months 
is annexed to the programme; 

putting  emphasis  on  a  need  for  a  knowledge-based  consumer 
policy; 

developing  capacity  building  actions  in  favour  of  consumer 
associations; 

developing  education  actions,  in  particular  towards  young 
consumers; 

In  addition,  the  new  joint  programme  tackles  issues  mentioned  in 
previous evaluations (see 6.2.2.b)): 

– 

– 

– 

combine  the  consumer  policy  programme  or  strategy  and  its 
related financial framework; 

increase the budget devoted to consumer policy; 

better  match  the  implementation  of  the  consumer  programme  or 
strategy  with  available  human  resources  with  the  use  of  a  new 
“Consumer  Institute”  department  within  the  existing  executive 
agency; 

EN 

56 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
– 

improve  enforcement:  this  is  one  of  the  major  consumer  policy 
objectives of the new programme. 

• 

Added value 

For  consumer  policy  in  particular,  the  increase  in  budget  will  allow  a 
better  implementation  of  its  main  objectives.  Indeed,  there  will  be  no 
major  changes  in  these  objectives  compared  to  the  Consumer  Policy 
Strategy  2002-2006.  However,  the  new  budget  allocation  will  provide 
means to put a clear emphasis on three major areas / objectives, namely: 

– 

– 

– 

Knowledge  base  (“a  better  understanding  of  consumers  and 
markets”) 

Enforcement (“better enforcement, monitoring and redress”) 

Empowerment  of  consumers  (“better  informed  and  educated 
consumers”) 

These  three  major  objectives  will  receive  the  large  majority  of  funds 
available under the operational budget. 

Better  added  value will  also be  reached with  the  leverage  effect  made 
possible  with  the  existence  of  the  “Consumer  Institute”  department  of 
the executive agency. It will increase both the operational capacities for 
consumer  policy  and  the  policy  and  analysis  capacities  of  the 
Commission services. 

• 

Cost-effectiveness 

Therefore, cost-effectiveness of the consumer policy part of the new 
joint programme benefits from the leverage effect provided with the 
existence  of  the  “Consumer  Institute”  department  of  the  executive 
agency.  There  is  no  dispersion.  As  we  mentioned,  priority  areas 
remain  broadly  comparable  to  the  ones  of  the  Consumer  Policy 
Strategy.  Now  that  several  pilot  actions  tested  under  the  Consumer 
Policy Strategy have proven their interest, it is time to amplify this 
effort. This is what should allow an extended operational budget and 
the  administrative  capacity  of  the  executive  agency’s  “Consumer 
Institute” department. 

EN 

57 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
6.2.2. Measures  taken  following  an  intermediate/ex-post  evaluation  (lessons 

learned from similar experiences in the past) 

(a)  Ex post evaluation of the former 8 public health programmes 

The role of the European Community in the field of public health, 
as defined by the Treaty, is to complement Member States’ action 
information  and 
by  promoting  research,  providing  health 
education,  encouraging  cooperation  and 
fostering  policy 
coordination  among  Member  States  through  incentive  measures. 
An  evaluation  of  the  8  Community  programmes  of  1996-2002 
was  carried  out  in  200412.  The  main  objective  was  to  assess 
whether  the goals were achieved  in the EU  through these  action 
programmes  and  to  locate  the  genuine  added  value  of  European 
intervention in the field of public health. 

The  evaluation  shows  that  the  Programmes  had  an  overall 
positive added value and calls for further investment by the EU in 
Public  Health.  It  gives  a  number  of  recommendations  :  some  of 
the issues raised have already been addressed when building the 
Public  health  programme  2003-2008.  However  room  for 
improvement remains for the following areas: 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

develop  a  complete  and  coherent  theory  of  action  for  the 
general public health framework; 

clarify  the priorities  the programme  seeks  to  meet  and  the 
levels targeted; 

be structured and research synergies and complementarities 
between the policy instruments and the research areas; 

in the area of health determinants, redirect a substantial part 
of  the  new  programme  towards  the  aspects  of  these 
diseases which have not been fully researched and towards 
tackling  the  issue  of  diseases  from  a  preventive  point  of 
view; 

to  allow  more  room,  in  cases  regarding  the  share  of 
responsibilities between the EU and the Member States, for 
a  re-orientation  of  the  EU  priorities  towards  emerging 
issues and innovative approaches; 

12 

EN 

Deloitte report of 2004 : “Final Evaluation of the eight Community Action Programmes on Public 
Health 
: 
http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_programme/evaluation_en.htm. 

(1996-2002) 

web 

link 

– 

58 

   EN 

 
 
 
                                                 
– 

– 

– 

– 

to  maximise  the  possibilities  to  exchange  information  and 
knowledge  between  Member  States,  notably  to  allow 
bridging the gap between countries lagging behind the most 
advanced 
recent 
enlargement; 

considering 

specially 

states, 

the 

to set up a systematic internal and external communication 
policy; 

to enhance training activities, as it is the most valuable way 
of disseminating methods and best practices; 

to reserve financing in the new programme for the effective 
and large networks, i.e. which are representative in terms of 
partners involved and coverage of the EU as a whole, so to 
ensure their sustainability. 

These recommendations will be reflected as far as possible in the 
construction of the new programme. 

(b)  Consumer protection 

Consumer protection policy  can build on  the lessons taken from 
former  programmes,  in  particular  the  Consumer  policy  action 
plan 1999-200113 and the Consumer policy Strategy 2002-200614. 
Some  measures  which  were  recommended  in  the  ex-post 
evaluation of the Consumer  Policy action plan had already been 
integrated  in  the  Consumer  Policy  Strategy.  Some  specific 
evaluations have been carried out and were taken into account.15 

An ex-post evaluation16 of the Consumer policy action plan draws 
the following recommendations (abstract): 

13 
14 
15 

16 

http://europa.eu.int/comm/consumers/cons_int/serv_gen/links/action_plan/ap01_en.pdf. 
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/en/oj/dat/2002/c_137/c_13720020608en00020023.pdf. 
Evaluation of 1995-199 subventions to consumer organisations operating at European level, final 
report, The evaluation partnership, 16 November 2001; Ex-ante budgetary evaluation of a possible 
merger of EEJ-Net and the ECC network and assessment of the pilot phase of the EEJ-Net, final 
report,  EPEC,  July  2004;  Evaluation  of  the  financial  support  for  specific  projects  article  2c)  of 
Decision  283/1999/EC,  Yellow Window,  final  report,  13  October  2004; Intermediate  evaluation 
of European consumer centres’ network (Euroguichets), CIVIC, final report, 10 November 2004. 
Ex-post evaluation of the Consumer Policy action plan 1999-2001, final report, Bureau Van Dijk 
Management Consultants – 16 December 2004. 

EN 

59 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
“Definition of the action plan 

1. 

2. 

Develop more flexible action plans, capable of reacting to new situations but 
stable enough to ensure the continuity of the Commission policy strategy.  

Combine  the  consumer  policy  action  plan  or  strategy  and  its  related 
financial framework into one document, with the objective that they should 
be of equal duration and that there is good coherence of the planned actions.  

Generation of broader impact 

3.  Make  a  very  clear  distinction  between  a  policy  document  like  the  action 
plan  -  being  a  sort  of  declaration  of  intent  -  and  a  management  plan  - 
providing information on the progress of outputs and impacts.  

4. 

Better match the implementation of the Commission consumer policy (that 
has  ambitious  objectives) with DG SANCO  (limited) human and financial 
resources. For the Commission, this means: 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

Define priorities.  

Be clear to consumer organisations on what is the role and what are the 
priorities  of  the  Commission  on  consumer  policy,  in  particular 
regarding the funding of and assistance to consumer organisations.  

Strengthen  co-operation  with  Member  States  in  particular  within  co-
operation on administrative enforcement. 

Build  on  existing  infrastructures  and  networks  created  either  by  other 
DGs or by Member States.  

Make the other DGs more  aware of  consumer interests and  encourage 
direct contacts between them and the consumer organisations.  

Increase the budget of DG SANCO. 

5. 

Optimise  the  complementarities  and  synergies  between  the  different 
networks  or  entities  contributing  to  the  implementation  of  the  Commission 
consumer policy. 

6. 

Reinforce the partnership with field organisations through: 

– 

– 

– 

Reinforced  participation  of  the  consumer  organisations  in  the  policy-
making process.  

More transparent communication to consumer organisations.  

The increased role of the Euroguichets, the EEJ-Net, the International 
Consumer  Protection  and  Enforcement  Network  (ICPEN),  consumer 
associations, etc.  

EN 

60 

   EN 

 
7. 

Reinforce  communication  with  Member  States  and  consumer  organisations 
and  between  Member  States  and  consumer  organisations  through  exchanges 
on: 

– 

– 

priorities and consumer needs at European and national/regional level. 

Commission actions and the progress made by the Member States and 
consumer organisations on the implementation, use and enforcement of 
the Commission actions and possibly on related best practices.  

8. 

Improve enforcement through: 

– 

– 

Continuing the work initiated during the action plan on co-operation in 
enforcement. 

Sustaining the development of consumer organisations in the countries 
lacking effective enforcement, such as in the new Member States.  

9.  Wherever  possible,  repeat  the  well-structured  approach  used  during  the 
revision  of  the  General  Product  Safety  Directive,  which  was  based  on  the 
preliminary  study  of  the  needs  for  improvement,  good  co-operation  with  the 
Member States and the consultation of stakeholders.  

10.  Continue  to  base  the  development  of  actions  on  informed  judgement 
through the use of the knowledge-base and the making of impact assessments 
and evaluations (ex-ante and ex-post).  

Impact assessment framework  

11.  Regularly assess the impact assessment framework, for instance every two 
years,  in  order  that  it  reflects  changing  consumer  policy  objectives,  the 
emergence  of  new  key  issues  (to  be  measured  to  know  whether  the 
Commission  consumer  policy  is  successful  in  supporting  its  objectives)  or 
improvements in data availability.  

In  its  concluding  remarks,  the  Report  on  the  implementation  and 
evaluation of Community activities 2002-2003 in favour of consumers 
under the general framework as established by Decision 283/1999/EC17 
underlined the following elements: 

17 

To be adopted by the Commission. 

EN 

61 

   EN 

 
 
                                                 
"With respect to the previous years, expenditure commitments in 
2002  and  2003  were  generally  more  policy-driven  than  was  the 
case in 1999-2001. This is in large part the result of the Consumer 
Policy Strategy 2002-2006, which defined clear objectives and a 
more coherent approach to consumer policy. In particular, actions 
to build up a knowledge-base for consumer policy have increased 
in  importance  with  respect  to  previous  years.  As  they  become 
available,  the  results  feed  into  policy  development  and  financial 
programming. This trend was further strengthened with the entry 
into  force  of  Decision  20/2004/EC  that  substitutes  Decision 
283/1999/EC.  The  new  framework  provides  support  only  for 
actions that support EU consumer policy. 

Efforts to rationalize and improve the efficiency of the European 
Consumer  Centers  and  Extra-Judicial  networks  have  led  to  a 
decision  to  merge  the  two  into  a  single  structure.  The  results  of 
evaluations are also prompting efforts to better focus the activities 
of  the  network  on  assistance  with  cross-border  consumer 
problems.  A  planned  review  of  the  function  of  the  networks 
within  the  larger  framework  of  consumer  redress  instruments, 
including small claims and injunctions/class actions by consumer 
organizations, will help to better define consumer needs to which 
the networks aim to respond. 

With  respect  to  European  level  consumer  associations,  the 
experience  with  AEC  has  proved  that,  in  spite  of  the  financial 
support  provided  from  the  Community  budget,  the  feasibility  of 
an effective second general consumer organization at EU level is 
low and that the national consumer associations that are not part 
of BEUC do not have the means to manage an effective EU-level 
organization.  

Evaluations and critical assessments have provided the basis for a 
substantial  reorientation  of  information  and  education  actions. 
The  pilots  of  the  new  actions  will  be  subject  of  interim 
evaluations to measure if they deliver improved impact.  

With  respect  to  specific  projects,  this  instrument  appears  to  be 
more  effective  as  a  means  of  supporting  national  consumer 
organizations  and  other  NGO’s  than  as  a  policy  tool,  and  its 
concrete impact on the level of consumer protection in the EU is 
found  to be scarce.  In  that  light, new  instruments  to  support  the 
work of consumer associations, in particular the capacity building 
actions  as  introduced  by  Decision  20/2004/EC,  deserve  to  be 
given a higher priority."  

EN 

62 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
6.2.3. Terms and frequency of future evaluation 

Details and frequency of planned evaluation: 

The Commission will draw up two successive evaluation reports based 
on an external independent evaluation, which will be communicated to 
the  European  Parliament,  the  Council,  the  Economic  and  Social 
Committee and the Committee of the Regions.  

Mid-term  report:  the  first  evaluation will  be undertaken  after  the  mid-
point of the programme. The object of this report is to provide an initial 
assessment  of  the  impact  and  effectiveness  of  the  programme  on  the 
basis  of  the  results  obtained.  Any  changes  or  adjustments  that  are 
deemed necessary will be proposed by the Commission for the second 
half of the programme.  

Final Report: An external evaluation report covering the entire period of 
operation  of  the  Programme  will  be  carried  out,  to  assess  the 
implementation of the Programme.  

Furthermore,  the  Commission  plans  to  audit  beneficiaries  in  order  to 
check  that  Community  funds  are  being  used  properly.  The  results  of 
audits will form the subject of a written report. 

Evaluation of the results obtained: 

Information providing a measure of the performance, results and impact 
of the Programme will be taken from the following sources: 

– 

– 

– 

statistical  data  compiled  on  the  basis  of  the  information  from 
application  dossiers  and 
the  monitoring  of  beneficiaries' 
contracts; 

audit reports on a sample of programme beneficiaries ; 

use  of  the  results  of  the  executive  agency’s  evaluations  and 
audits. 

EN 

63 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. 

Anti-fraud measures  

All  the  contracts,  conventions  and  legal  undertakings  concluded  between  the 
Commission and the beneficiaries under the programme foresee the possibility of an 
audit  at  the  premises  of  the  beneficiary  by  the  Commission’s  services  or  by  the 
Court of Auditors, as well as the possibility of requiring the beneficiaries to provide 
all  relevant  documents  and  data  concerning  expenses  relating  to  such  contracts, 
conventions  or  legal  undertakings  up  to  5  years  after  the  contractual  period. 
Beneficiaries  are  subject  to  the  requirement  to  provide  reports  and  financial 
accounts, which are analysed as to the eligibility of the costs and the content, in line 
with  the  rules  on  Community  financing  and  taking  account  of  contractual 
obligations, economic principles and good financial management. 

EN 

64 

   EN 

 
8. 

DETAILS OF RESOURCES 
8.1.  Objectives of the proposal in terms of their financial cost 
Commitment appropriations in EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

Type 
of 
output 

Av. 
cost 

2007 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 and later 

TOTAL 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
costs 

No. 
out-
puts 

Total 
cost 

No. 
out-
puts 

Total 
cost 

No. 
out-
puts 

Total 
cost 

No. 
out-
puts 

Total 
cost 

No. 
outputs 

Total 
cost 

1,000 

1 

1,315 

2 

1,668 

2 

1,959 

2 

2,460 

3 

3,384 

4 

4,453 

5 

4,802 

20 

20,043 

1,000 

1 

1,363 

2 

1,716 

2 

2,010 

3 

2,512 

3 

3,418 

4 

4,438 

5 

4,769 

20 

20,225 

1,000 

1 

1,299 

2 

1,620 

2 

1,891 

2 

2,349 

3 

3,151 

4 

4,014 

4 

4,294 

19 

18,619 

Pro-
jects, 
confe-
rences, 
studies, 
mee-
tings 
Pro-
jects, 
confe-
rences, 
studies, 
mee-
tings 
Pro-
jects, 
confe-
rences, 
studies, 
mee-
tings 

(Headings of 
Objectives, 
actions and 
outputs should 
be provided) 

OPERATIO-
NAL 
OBJECTIVE 
No.1 actions 
with common 
objectives 
Action 1 : 
Improve 
communication 
with EU citizens 

Action 2 
Increase civil 
society and 
stakeholders' 
participation in 
policy-making  

Action 3 : 
Develop a 
common 
approach for 
integrating 
health and 
consumer 
concerns into 
other EU 
policies 

EN 

65 

   EN 

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Pro-
jects, 
confe-
rences, 
studies, 
net-
works, 
mee-
tings 

Opi-
nions, 
mee-
tings 
Pro-
jects, 
confe-
rences, 
studies, 
mee-
tings 
Pro-
jects, 
confe-
rences, 
studies, 
net-
works, 
mee-
tings 

Action 4 : 
promote 
international 
cooperation 

Action 5 : 
detection, 
evaluation and 
communication 
of risks  
   scientific 
committees * 

   other 

Action 6 : 
Promote the 
safety of goods 
and of 
substances of 
human origin 

Sub-total 
Objective 1 

1,000 

1 

0,927 

1 

1,168 

1 

1,368 

2 

1,710 

2 

2,329 

3 

3,026 

3 

3,253 

14 

13,781 

80 

0,362 

80 

0,362 

80 

0,398 

80 

0,438 

80 

0,482 

80 

0,530 

80 

0,584 

560 

3,156 

1,000 

1 

0,834 

1 

1,139 

1 

1,358 

2 

1,753 

2 

2,484 

3 

3,296 

4 

3,522 

14 

14,386 

1,000 

2 

1,505 

2 

1,859 

2 

2,161 

3 

2,667 

4 

3,520 

4 

4,390 

5 

4,671 

21 

20,772 

87 

7,606 

89 

9,532 

91 

11,146 

93 

13,890 

98 

18,767 

104 

24,146 

105 

25,895 

668 

110,981 

EN 

66 

   EN 

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
OPERATIO-
NAL 
OBJECTIVE 
No.2 : 
health……… 
Sub objective 1 : protect citizens against 
health threats 
Action 1 : 
surveillance and 
control of health 
threats 

1,000 

Pro-
jects, 
net-
works, 
confe-
rences, 
mee-
tings 
Pro-
jects, 
net-
works, 
confe-
rences, 
mee-
tings 

Action 2 : 
deliver response 
to health threats 

Sub objective 
2: promote 
policies that 
lead to a 
healthier way 
of life 
Action 3 : 
health 
determinants 

Sub objective 
3: contribute to 
reducing the 
incidence of 
major diseases 
Action 4 : 
prevention of 
diseases 

12 

12,482 

14 

13,940 

15 

15,208 

18 

18,211 

25 

24,864 

32 

31,602 

33 

33,193 

150 

149,501 

1,000 

4 

4,438 

8 

7,864 

10 

10,139 

14 

13,926 

20 

20,343 

30 

29,563 

33 

33,193 

119 

119,466 

1,000 

14 

13,869 

15 

15,370 

16 

16,053 

19 

18,747 

25 

25,466 

32 

32,010 

33 

33,193 

155 

154,708 

1,000 

3 

2,774 

6 

6,077 

9 

9,294 

13 

13,390 

20 

19,740 

29 

29,155 

33 

33,193 

114 

113,624 

Pro-
jects, 
net-
works, 
confe-
rences, 
mee-
tings 

Pro-
jects, 
net-
works, 
confe-
rences, 
mee-
tings 

EN 

67 

   EN 

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Pro-
jects, 
net-
works, 
confe-
rences, 
mee-
tings 

Pro-
jects, 
net-
works, 
confe-
rences, 
mee-
tings, 
reports, 
web 
portal 

Sub objective 
4: contribute to 
development of 
more effective 
and efficient 
health systems 
Action 5 : health 
systems 
cooperation 

All sub 
objectives 
Action 6: health 
information and 
knowledge 

Sub-total 
Objective 2 
OPERATIO-
NAL 
OBJECTIVE 
No.3 Consumer 
protection 1 
Action 1: a 
better 
understanding of 
consumers and 
markets 
Action 2: better 
consumer 
protection 
regulation 
Action 3: better 
enforcement, 
monitoring and 
redress 

1,000 

2 

2,496 

5 

5,362 

10 

10,139 

13 

13,390 

20 

19,740 

29 

29,155 

33 

33,193 

113 

113,476 

1,000 

14 

13,869 

16 

15,728 

15 

15,208 

19 

18,747 

25 

25,466 

32 

32,010 

33 

33,193 

154 

154,221 

50 

49,928 

64 

64,340 

76 

76,042 

96 

96,411 

136 

135,620 

183 

183,495 

199 

199,159 

805 

804,995 

1,000 

4 

3,745 

5 

5,314 

6 

6,202 

7 

7,308 

9 

8,505 

9 

8,644 

9 

8,663 

48 

48,382 

1,000 

1 

0,926 

1 

1,430 

2 

1,618 

2 

1,906 

2 

2,219 

2 

2,255 

2 

2,260 

13 

12,614 

1,000 

6 

5,762 

6 

6,434 

7 

7,281 

9 

8,579 

10 

9,984 

10 

10,147 

10 

10,170 

58 

58,357 

EN 

68 

   EN 

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Action 4: better 
informed and 
educated 
consumers 
Action 5: 
specific projets 

Sub-total 
Objective n 

TOTAL COST 

1,000 

6 

5,556 

6 

5,719 

6 

6,472 

8 

7,626 

9 

8,875 

9 

9,020 

9 

9,040 

52 

52,308 

1,000 

3 

2,531 

3 

2,550 

3 

2,697 

3 

3,177 

4 

3,698 

4 

3,758 

4 

3,767 

22 

22,178 

19 

18,522 

21 

21,447 

24 

24,269 

29 

28,597 

33 

33,281 

34 

33,824 

34 

33,899 

194 

193,838 

76,055 

95,319 

111,457 

138,898 

187,668 

241,465 

258,954 

1109,815 

* 

Based on an indemnity of 300 Euros for participating in a full day’s meeting and an indemnity of 400 Euros for the scientific 
opinion made by the rapporteur  

EN 

69 

   EN 

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
8.2.  Administrative Expenditure 

8.2.1. Number and type of human resources 

Types of post 

Staff to be assigned to management of the action using existing 
and/or additional resources (number of posts/FTEs) 

2007 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

A*/AD 

34 

36 

38 

40 

42 

42 

42 

Officials or temporary 
staff[1] (17 01 01) 

B*, 
C*/AST 

22 

24 

26 

28 

30 

30 

30 

Staff financed[2] by art. 17 01 02 

23 

23 

23 

23 

23 

23 

23 

Other staff [3] financed by art. 17 
01 04/05 

TOTAL 

79 

83 

87 

91 

95 

95 

95 

The  calculation  includes  the  existing  resources  devoted  to  the  two  current 
programmes,  and  the  new  requested  staff,  subject  to  agreement  under  the 
annual  procedure  of  resources  allocation  (APS/PDB).  The  increase  in  the 
Commission  staff  is  needed  to.  undertake  the  conceptual  and  strategic 
preparatory work, specially during the first years of the programme, and 
to  exploit  the  results  coming  from  the  programme  and  proposals.  More 
over,  the  work  on  developing  enforcement  cooperation  with  Member 
States, as well as the intensification of capacity-building activities aimed 
at  consumer  organisations  will  require  strengthening  of  Commission 
resources 

It does not include the executive agency’s staff. 

8.2.2. Description of tasks deriving from the action 

The  joint  programme  will  build  on  the  two  existing  programmes  (and 
maintain their core elements), put forward new action strands and expand on 
existing activities respectively on health and on consumer protection.  

As regards Health, the joint programme reinforces the existing three strands 
of the Public Health Programme (Information, Health threats and promoting 
health  through  addressing  health  determinants).  It  also  proposes  three  new 
action areas: rapid response to health threats, prevention of diseases and co-
operation between health systems. 

As  regards  consumer  protection,  the  joint  programme  reinforces  and  re-
focuses  the  themes  of  the  current  programme  (high  common  level  of 
consumer  protection;  effective  enforcement  and  the  proper  involvement  of 
consumer  organisations).  A  higher  priority  is  given  to  information  and 

EN 

70 

   EN 

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
education and improving the understanding of how markets function to the 
benefit of business and consumers.  

The current executive agency will also be extended to deal with Consumer 
issues.  An  extension  of  the  executive  agency,  to  be  called  “Consumer 
Institute”,  will  enable  the  Commission  to  carry  out  projects  which  had  so 
far only be done at the pilot project level (e.g. education tools) and to be the 
necessary  scale  and  visibility  to  actions  meant  to  strenghthen  the 
“knowledge base” for consumer policy making (e.g. price surveys, quality of 
products)  or  to  develop  capacity  building  actions  (training  of  consumers’ 
organisations staff, of enforcers from the Member States). 

The  existence  of  the  “Consumer  Institute”  will  enable  an  increase  in  the 
visibility  and  the  impact  of  such  actions,  and  it  will  free  resources  in  the 
Commission to make use of these actions, in particular the knowledge base 
ones, for policy development.. 

8.2.3. Sources of human resources (statutory) 

(When more than one source is stated, please indicate the number of posts 
originating from each of the sources) 

X 

Posts  currently  allocated to  the  management  of  the  programme  to be 
replaced or extended 

(cid:133) 

Posts pre-allocated within the APS/PDB exercise for year n 

X 

Posts to be requested in the next APS/PDB procedure 

(cid:133) 

(cid:133) 

Posts  to  be  redeployed  using  existing  resources  within  the  managing 
service (internal redeployment) 

Posts  required  for  year  n  although  not  foreseen  in  the  APS/PDB 
exercise of the year in question 

EN 

71 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
8.2.4. Other Administrative expenditure included in reference amount (XX 01 04/05 

– Expenditure on administrative management) 

Budget line 
(number and heading) 

1.  Technical and 
administrative 
assistance (including 
related staff costs) 

Executive agency 
Other 

technical and 
administrative assistance 

– 

– 

intra muros 

extra muros 

Total Technical and 
administrative assistance 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

2007 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 
and 
later 

TOTAL 

6,795 

8,481 

9,860  11,729  12,655  12,755 

12,755 

75,029 

1,650 
0,500 

1,680 
0,520 

1,743 
0,941 

1,810 
0,563 

2,091 
0,586 

2,170 
0,611 

2,255 
1,036 

13,399 
4,757 

8,945  10,681  12,543  14,102  15,332  15,535 

16,046 

93,185 

These costs include the programme’s contribution to the operating costs of 
the Health and Consumer Executive agency, and notably the personnel costs 
to the agency for this programme. These costs correspond to an estimation 
of  44  people  (statutory  personnel  at  the  agency  and  contractual  agents)  in 
2007 and 98 people in 2013; the increase of personnel over the period results 
from  the  increase  in  the  volume  of  activity  entrusted  to  the  agency, 
stemming  from  the  increase  in  the  budget  allocated  for  the  different 
activities which it will be responsible for managing. 

8.2.5. Financial  cost of  human resources  and  associated costs not  included  in  the 

reference amount 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

Type of human resources 

2007 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 
and 
later 

Officials and temporary staff (17 01 01) 

6,048 

6,48 

6,912 

7,344 

7,776 

7,776 

7,776 

Staff financed by Art 17 01 02 (auxiliary, 
END, contract staff, etc.) 
(specify budget line) 

Total cost of Human Resources and 
associated costs (NOT in reference 
amount) 

2,484 

2,484 

2,484 

2,484 

2,484 

2,484 

2,484 

8,532

8,964

9,396

9,828 

10,26 

10,26

10,26

EN 

72 

   EN 

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
Calculation – Officials and Temporary agents 

Calculation includes overheads expenses and is based on the average cost in 
the Commission 

Calculation– Staff financed under art. XX 01 02 

Calculation includes overheads expenses and is based on the average cost in 
the Commission 

8.2.6  Other administrative expenditure not included in reference amount 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

2007 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

TOTAL 

17  01  02  11  01  – 

Missions 

0,750 

0,754 

0,758 

0,761 

0,765 

0,769 

0,773 

3,795 

17  01  02  11  02  – 
Meetings  &  Conferences; 
and Committees 

17  01  02  11  04  –

2,000 

2,010 

2,020 

2,030 

2,040 

2,051 

2,061 

10,121 

Studies & consultations 

0,600 

0,603 

0,606 

0,609 

0,612 

0,615 

0,618 

3,036 

17  01  02  11  05  – 

Information systems 

0,750 

0,754 

0,758 

0,761 

0,765 

0,769 

0,773 

3,795 

4,100 

4,121 

4,141 

4,162 

4,183 

4,204 

4,225 

20,748 

4,100 

4,121 

4,141 

4,162 

4,183 

4,204 

4,225 

20,748 

2.  Total Other 

Management 
Expenditure 
(XX 01 02 11) 

3.  Other expenditure 

of an administrative 
nature (specify 
including reference 
to budget line) 

Total 
Administrative 
expenditure, other 
than human 
resources and 
associated costs 
(NOT included in 
reference amount) 

EN 

73 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
Calculation  -  Other  administrative  expenditure  not  included  in  reference 
amount 

The  needs  for  human  and  administrative  resources  shall  be  covered 
within the allocation granted to the managing Directorate-General in the 
framework  of  the  annual  allocation  procedure.  The  allocation  of  posts 
should  take  into  account  an  eventual  reallocation  of  posts  between 
departments on the basis of the new financial perspectives. 

EN 

74 

   EN