Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - Implementation of the public health programme in 2006
Date: 2008-04-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, health policy, public health, report

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 17.4.2008 
COM(2008) 198 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Implementation of the Public Health Programme in 2006 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Implementation of the Public Health Programme in 2006 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Under Article 12(1) of 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)1, the Commission must regularly monitor the 
implementation  of  the  actions  under  the  programme  in  the  light  of  the  objectives. 
This  report  aims  to  inform  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  of  the 
implementation of the Public Health Programme in 2006. A report on the first three 
years of the Programme can be found on the Europa website2. 

2. 

BUDGET OUTLINE  

The  programme’s  overall  budget  for  2003-2008  was  EUR 354 million.  The  budget 
for 2006 was estimated at EUR 55 817 661 in Commission Decision 2006/89/EC of 
10  February  2006  adopting  the  work  plan  for  2006  for  the  implementation  of  the 
programme of Community action in the field of public health (2003-2008), including 
the annual work programme for grants3. The operating budget and the administrative 
budget  were  estimated  respectively  at  EUR 53 863 521  and  EUR 1 954 140.  The 
indicative amount for grants was EUR 47 798 344. 

3. 

GRANTS 

3.1. 

Call for proposals 

A single call for proposals, covering all work plan activities for 2006, was published 
on  14 February 2006  and  closed  on  19 May 2006.  It  was  published  in  the  Official 
Journal4 and on the Europa website5. An information day was held on 22 February in 
Luxembourg for stakeholders and public health professionals interested in submitting 
proposals under the Public Health Programme.  

The indicative amount for the call for proposals was EUR 43 018 510. 

A  total  of  281  applications  were  submitted  for  the  three  strands  (121  for  Health 
Information,  18  for  Health  Threats  and  142  for  Health  Determinants).  Thirty-three 

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OJ L 271, 09.10.2002, p. 1. 
http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_programme/keydo_programme_2003_2008_en.htm. 
OJ L 42, 14.2.2006, p.29. 
OJ C 37, 14.02.2006, p.14. 
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_programme/howtoapply/proposal_docs/call2006_en.pdf. 

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applications  were  excluded during the  screening  and  selection  phase,  in  most  cases 
because the proposals were incomplete. The remaining 248 proposals were evaluated 
by  the  Public  Health  Executive  Agency  (PHEA)  and  reviewed  by  an  Evaluation 
Committee  composed  of  representatives  of  the  Commission’s  Directorates-General 
for Health and Consumer Protection and for Research, plus Eurostat and PHEA. The 
final  list  of  proposals  recommended  for  funding,  the  consolidated  reserve  list  and 
proposals to be rejected were submitted to 28 external evaluators. As a result of the 
evaluation process, a list of 67 projects and a reserve list of 41 projects were drawn 
up. 

More  detailed  information  regarding  the  substance  of  the  proposals,  the  number  of 
proposals  submitted  by  each  Member  State,  the  variation  in  success  rates  between 
applicants from different countries, and the impact of the information day, together 
with an analysis of the evaluation process, is available in “Call for Proposals 2006 — 
Evaluation Summary”, published on the Public Health Executive Agency website6. 

A Commission interservice consultation was held to ensure that projects selected for 
co-financing  did  not  duplicate  or  overlap  with  ongoing  projects  in  other  DGs. 
In September 2006, the Committee for the implementation of the Community action 
programme  on  public  health  (2003-2008)  unanimously  agreed  to  co-finance  the 
proposals selected (totalling EUR 39 008 234 on the main list). 

An  increase  in  budget  line 17  03  01  01  was  requested  by  the  Commission  and 
approved  by  the  Budget  Authority  in  December 2006  with  the  specific  purpose  of 
financing a higher number of projects under the 2006 call for proposals for the Public 
Health Programme (2003-2008). 

The  above-mentioned  Committee  gave  a  favourable  opinion  on  Commission 
Decision C(2007)3354  amending  Decision C(2006)6429  on  the  awarding  of  grants 
for projects under the “Public health — 2006” programme7 (for an overall amount of 
for  proposals),  which  was  adopted 
EUR 47 399 457 
on 13 July 2007.  All  grant  agreements  under  the  2006  call  for  proposals were  then 
signed in 2007 for a total of 87 projects (namely, 32 projects on Health Information, 
12 projects on Health Threats and 43 projects on Health Determinants). 

the  2006  call 

for 

3.2. 

Calls for tender 

A number of actions were initiated either by launching calls for tenders or by using 
the existing framework contracts. The most significant are listed below:  

–  A  Eurobarometer  survey  on  health  risks  in  the  25  Member  States  and  4 
neighbouring  countries  that  covered  perception  of  and  information  on  the 
following  four  themes:  potential  health  risks  linked  to  electromagnetic  fields, 
alcohol-related risks, smoking-related risks and organ donation.  

–  Continuation  of  the  maintenance  and  development  of  the  Public  Health  Portal, 
with  the  aim  of  improving  its  accessibility  and  of  extending  the  number  of 
languages available online. 

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http://ec.europa.eu/phea/documents/Evaluation_summary_REPORT_170107.pdf. 
C(2007)3354 of 13.7.2007. 

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–  An  administrative  agreement  with  the  Joint  Research  Centre  (JRC)  to  provide 
scientific  support  and  advice  on  implementing  Directive 2001/37/EC8  of  the 
European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2001 on the approximation of 
the  laws,  regulations  and  administrative  provisions  of  the  Member  States 
concerning  the  manufacture,  presentation  and  sale  of  tobacco  products.  This 
support  will  help  to  harmonise  the  reporting  system  for  tobacco  ingredients,  to 
enhance  Member  States’  tobacco  control  laboratory  cooperation  and  to  provide 
scientific advice on issues relevant to the regulatory process.  

–  A report on the situation regarding drug treatment and sharing good practice, i.e. 
the  quality  of  treatment  services  in  Europe,  with  a  specific  focus  on  the 
development  of  know-how  on  drug  treatment  and  sharing  best  practice.  It  also 
included the preparation of a Recommendation to develop “prevention, treatment 
and  harm  reduction  services  for  people  in  prisons,  reintegration  services  on 
release from prisons and methods to monitor/analyse drug use among prisoners”. 

–  A  contract  with  Rand  Europe  to  evaluate  the  uptake  of  healthy  life  years 

indicators. 

3.3. 

Grants for international organisations 

Cooperation  with  international  organisations  has  been  further  developed.  Seven 
direct grant agreements were signed with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and 
two with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). 

Direct  grants  with  the  WHO,  amounting  to  total  co-funding  of  EUR 2 500 000, 
addressed the following issues: 

–  enhanced policy advice on the environment and health in Europe, 

–  implementation of existing recommendations on preventing injury and promoting 

safety, 

–  equity  in  health  —  inequalities  in  health  system  performance  and  their  social 

determinants in Europe, 

–  support  for  health  security  and  preparedness  planning  in  EU  neighbouring 

countries, 

–  coordinated implementation of the framework for alcohol policy in Europe,  

–  an  assessment  of  emergency  medical  service  preparedness  in  national  crisis 

management structures in EU Member States. 

Direct  grant  agreements  with  the  OECD,  amounting  to  total  co-funding  of 
EUR 800 000, addressed the following issues: 

–  work on health accounts, 

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JO L 194, 18.7.2001, p.26. 

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–  health workforce and international migration. 

3.4. 

Sub-delegation to Eurostat 

In  accordance  with  Article  1.4.7  of  the  Work  Plan  for  20069,  a  budget  of 
EUR 500 000  was  set  for  sub-delegation  to  Eurostat.  Under  that  Article,  Eurostat 
launched two calls for proposal to support national statistical authorities: 

–  for  the  implementation  in  2006-2008  of  the  European  Core  Health  Interview 

Survey modules;  

–  for the implementation and further expansion of the System of Health Accounts in 

the EU (in cooperation with OECD and the WHO).  

For  the  first,  EUR 132 246.90  was  ultimately  sub-delegated  and  used  for  five grant 
agreements  with  Member  States  on  the  project  “Implementation  of  the  modules  on 
health  determinants,  health  care  and  background  variables  for  the  European  Health 
Interview Survey (EHIS)”. 

For  the  second,  EUR 105 528.81  was  ultimately  sub-delegated  and  used  for 
five grant agreements with Member States and for two with EFTA countries. 

In other words, 47.56% of the total estimated sub-delegated budget was used for 10 
grant agreements with Member States and for two with EFTA countries. 

4. 

STRUCTURAL SUPPORT 

4.1. 

Executive Agency for the Public Health Programme 

Technical, scientific and administrative assistance needed to implement the 2006 call 
for  proposals  was  provided  by  the  Executive  Agency  for  the  Public  Health 
Programme (PHEA). The Agency, set up in 200510, became operational in 2006. It 
organised  the  2006  call  for  proposals,  coordinated  the  evaluation  of  the  projects 
submitted, and negotiated and signed the co-financing contracts. 

5. 

PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMME 2003-2008: INTERIM EVALUATION  

The Public Health Programme Decision of 2002 provided for an external assessment 
of  the  first  three  years’  implementation  and  achievements  of  the  programme,  to  be 
produced by the fourth year. The Inception Report was finalised in March 2006 and 
made  available  on  the  Europa  site11.  The  Final  (Interim  Evaluation)  Report  was 
published in 2007 and is available on the Europa site12. 

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OJ L 42, 14.2.2006, p.29. 
C(2004)4839 of 15.12.2004, OJ L 369, 16.12.2004, p. 73. 
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_programme/documents/evaluation/inter_evaluation_en.pdf. 
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_programme/documents/evaluation/PHP_evaluation_en.pdf. 

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6. 

MAIN ACTIVITIES IN 2006 

6.1. 

Health information 

As  part  of  the  “health  information  and  knowledge  system”  component  of  the  EU 
Public  Health  Programme,  a  report  on  “Alcohol  in  Europe:  A  public  health 
perspective”13 was published in June. 

The First European Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion14 was 
held in Vienna in June. It was organised by the Austrian Presidency with the support 
of  the  European  Commission.  Also  in  June,  a  Commission  Communication  on 
“Actions for a Safer Europe”15 was adopted by the Commission. 

Six Eurobarometer studies on different subjects (medical errors, AIDS prevention, 
food  and  health,  tobacco  attitudes,  mental  wellbeing,  and  health  prevention)  were 
implemented  and  published  during  the  year  in  order  to  cover  information  gaps  in 
these areas. 

An  e-Health  High-Level  Conference16  took  place  in  May  under  the  Austrian 
Presidency as part of the follow-up to the Commission Communication on E-Health. 
Another  important  project  was  launched  in  May:  the  Public  Health  Portal  of  the 
European Union17 providing a single point of access to health-related information at 
European, national and regional levels. 

The  “Europe  for  health  and  wealth”  project18  was  co-funded  during  the  Finnish 
Presidency  as  part  of  the  Presidency  theme  of  Health  in  All  Policies.  The  project 
aimed  at  influencing  determinants  of  health  in  other  national  and  Community 
policies  and  gathering  the  best  available  knowledge  on  good  practices  to  engage 
other  sectors  in  improving  health  and  reducing  health  inequalities.  As  part  of  the 
project, the Presidency organised a high-level ministerial conference in September on 
the  subject  and  produced  a  publication  Health  in  All  Policies:  Prospects  and 
potentials,  in  cooperation  with  the  participating  countries  and  the  WHO  European 
Observatory. 

The  PERISTAT  project  held  a  Congress  “Better  statistics  for  Better  Health  for 
pregnant women and their babies”,19
 co-funded by the Public Health Programme, in Porto 
(Portugal) on 2-3 June. The congress included sessions on “Strategies for increasing 
the utilisation of perinatal health information”, “Perinatal health information systems 
&  indicators”,  “Analysing  data  from  routine  sources  to  evaluate  practices  and 
outcomes”  and  “Assessing  geographic  and  social  inequalities”.  Over  110  health 
professionals,  from  26  European  countries  plus  Australia  and  the  United  States, 
attended the congress. 

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19 

http://ec.europa.eu/health-eu/news_alcoholineurope_en.htm. 
http://www.eurosafe.eu.com/csi/eurosafe.nsf/html/homepage/$file/index.htm. 
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/environment/IPP/documents/com_328_en.pdf. 
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_projects/2005/action1/action1_2005_3_en.htm. 
http://health.europa.eu. 
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_projects/2005/action1/action1_2005_full_en.htm#21. 
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_information/documents/ev_20060602_prog_en.pdf. 

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In June 2006, the Rare Diseases Task Force, funded by the Public Health Programme, submitted the 
report  Contribution  to  policy  shaping:  For  a  European  collaboration  on  health 
services and medical care in the field of rare diseases20 to the High-Level Group on 
Health  Services  and  Medical  Care,  updating  information  on  reference  networks  in 
Europe. 

The European Primary Immunodeficiencies Consensus Conference21, co-funded 
by  the  Public  Health  Programme,  took  place  in  Frankfurt-am-Main  on  19-20  June. 
More than 100 experts in clinical immunology, PID care, public health, and genetics, 
from EU/national ministries of health and agencies, academic centres, public health 
laboratories,  industry,  professional  organisations  and  patient  groups,  were  brought 
together to identify and develop public health strategies for PID. 

6.2. 

Health threats 

The beginning of the year was marked by four fatal human cases of avian influenza 
in Turkey. This prompted a swift reaction by the Commission, the European Centre 
for  Disease  Prevention  and  Control  (ECDC)  and  WHO,  and  all  the  response 
mechanisms set up in advance were activated, including sending a joint field team to 
assist  the  Turkish  authorities.  A  new  Web  portal  was  set  up  to  inform  decision 
makers in Member States (HEDIS) and thereby played a pioneering role in EU-wide 
crisis preparations. The national preparedness of the Member States was assessed by 
teams of ECDC and Commission experts. A further joint WHO-Commission-ECDC 
conference  on  preparedness  was  held  in  Uppsala  in  May  and  the  Health  and 
Consumer Protection DG contributed to the success of the Beijing conference (where 
almost  USD  2  billion  was  pledged  for  the  global  fight  against  avian  flu  and  a 
pandemic), and to the follow-up conferences in Vienna and Bamako. 

Measures  to  control  a  number  of  disease  incidents  notified  by  the  EU’s  Early 
Warning and Response System (EWRS), set up by Decision No 2119/98/EC22, were 
coordinated  by  the  Health  and  Consumer  Protection  DG.  The  most  important  were 
the avian influenza cases in Turkey, the Chikungunya outbreak in the Indian Ocean 
area, several outbreaks of Norovirus infections in cruise ships, a case of Lassa fever 
imported from Africa to Europe and several cases of legionellosis diagnosed in EU 
citizens after a stay in a hotel in Thailand. In close collaboration with the ECDC, the 
Health  and  Consumer  Protection  DG  prepared  for  a  2007  revision  of  the  EU  case 
definitions and the transfer of the operation of the EWRS system and related Public 
Health Programme projects on surveillance of communicable diseases to the ECDC. 

Chemical and radionuclear threats. The Commission adopted a communication on 
prolonging the mandate of the Health Security Committee (HSC), which deals with 
deliberate  releases  of  biological,  chemical  and  radionuclear  agents  with  the  aim  of 
causing harm. The Committee also coordinates influenza preparedness planning. The 
need to continue the work of this Committee was underlined by the further spread of 
avian influenza and the criminal use of polonium 210 in the United Kingdom, which 

20 
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http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_threats/non_com/rare_8_en.htm. 
http://www.eupidconference.com/Publications_Consensus.aspx. 
Decision No 2119/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 September 1998 setting 
up  a  network  for  the  epidemiological  surveillance  and  control  of  communicable  diseases  in  the 
Community, OJ L 268, 3.10.1998, p. 1–7. 

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also  led  to  contamination  of  several  commercial  aircraft,  exposing  a  very  high 
number of EU citizens to a potential radiological hazard. The ability to react to such 
events  was  further  increased  by  the  new  web-based  RAS-BICHAT  system  and  the 
roll-out of the RAS-CHEM system, which are used for rapid notification of attacks 
and events involving biological, chemical and radionuclear agents. 

Generic  preparedness  for  health  threats.  In  order  to  further  improve  the  generic 
preparedness  of  the  Commission  and  Member  States,  several  steps  were  taken  to 
implement  the  lessons  learnt  from  two  simulation  exercises  organised  in  2005. 
Among  other  improvements,  the  Health  and  Consumer  Protection  DG  set  up  an 
extended Crisis Team which makes available all suitable resources that the DG has 
for the management of a major crisis. The team’s work was supported by setting up 
new crisis rooms in Luxembourg and Brussels. The ability of Member States to use 
the  available  rapid  alert  and  information  systems  was  improved  by  special  training 
sessions offered by the DG. 

6.3. 

Health determinants 

Following  the  “Communication  on  combating  HIV/AIDS  within  the  European 
Union  and  in  the  neighbouring  countries,  2006-2009”23,  a  high-level  roundtable  on 
safer  sex  for  young  people  was  set  up.  Its  first  achievement  was  the  “AIDS 
remember  me  —  Night  of  HIV/AIDS  TV  commercials”  event  in  November. 
Cooperation  and  consultation  with  Member  States  and  stakeholders  continues, 
especially  through  the  HIV/AIDS  Think  Tank  and  the  HIV/AIDS  Civil  Society 
Forum. 

Following a wide consultation process, the Commission adopted a “Communication 
on an EU strategy to support Member States in reducing alcohol related harm”24 in 
October.  Five  priority  areas  were  identified  that  are  relevant  in  all  Member  States 
and  where  Community  action  can  add  value  to  national  policies:  “Protect  young 
people,  children  and  the  unborn  child”;  “Reduce  injuries  and  death  from  alcohol-
related road accidents”; “Prevent alcohol-related harm among adults and reduce the 
negative  impact  on  the  workplace”;  “Inform,  educate  and  raise  awareness  on  the 
impact  of  harmful  and  hazardous  alcohol  consumption,  and  on  appropriate 
consumption  patterns”  and  “Develop  and  maintain  a  common  evidence  base  at  EU 
level”. The Council Conclusions that were adopted in November 2006 welcomed the 
Commission Communication and endorsed the actions set out in it. 

In September, the Commission published the results of the public consultation on the 
Green  Paper  “Promoting  healthy  diets  and  physical  activity:  a  European  dimension 
for the prevention of overweight, obesity and chronic diseases”25. The Commission 
continued stakeholder consultations and the impact assessment on a White Paper on 
Nutrition  and  Physical  Activity26.  The  European  Platform  for  Action  on  Diet, 
Physical  Activity  and  Health  tabled  and  started  to  implement  177  commitments  on 
actions  to  halt  and  reverse  current  obesity  trends.  Exchanges  on  public-private 

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http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2005:0654:FIN:EN:PDF. 
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/life_style/alcohol/documents/alcohol_com_625_en.pdf. 
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/life_style/nutrition/documents/nutrition_gp_en.pdf. 
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/life_style/nutrition/documents/nutrition_wp_en.pdf. 

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partnerships between Platform members and similar actors in the United States were 
held in May. 

The  2005-2008  “HELP:  For  a  Life  without  Tobacco”  EU  anti-smoking  campaign 
targeting  mainly  adolescents  (15  to  18  year  olds)  and  young  adults  (18  to  30  year 
olds)  was  continued.  The  campaign  addressed  the  three  main  themes  of  tobacco 
control (prevention, giving up, and the dangers of passive smoking) through a range 
of  media  including  television  and  the  Internet,  the  press  and  the  organisation  of 
public  relations  events.  The  CO  measurement  campaign  launched  in  March  racked 
up  more  than  90  000  tests  and  over  250  events  were  run  EU-wide.  Finally,  the 
European  Youth  Manifesto  against  Tobacco27,  drafted  by  young  people  themselves 
on the basis of 25 national consultations, was prepared for dissemination. 

Extensive public consultation28 on the Green paper “Promoting the mental health of 
the population: Towards a strategy on mental health for the EU”29 of October 2005 
was held. The consultation confirmed strong support from the general public for the 
development of a mental health strategy at EU level. 

the  WHO  and 

international 
The  Commission  cooperated  with  Member  States  and  with 
its  Commission  on  Social 
organisations,  particularly  with 
Determinants of Health, to promote understanding and policy development for action 
in the area of  social determinants and health inequalities. The  EU Expert Group 
on  Social  Determinants  and  Health  Inequalities 
the 
macroeconomic  implications  of  health  inequalities  and  provided  a  mechanism  for 
sharing  good  practice  on  national  policy  developments.  Council  conclusions  on 
Health in All Policies were agreed under the Finnish presidency which stressed the 
importance of addressing social determinants of health through policies in a variety 
of sectors. The Commission’s discussion document for a new health strategy “Health 
in Europe: A Strategic Approach” proposed that one of the core threads of the new 
strategy  should  be  action  to  help  reduce  health  inequalities  and  narrow  the  health 
gaps within and between countries. 

initiated  a  study  of 

A report on the implementation of the Council Recommendation of 18 June 2003 on 
the  prevention  and  reduction  of  health-related  harm  associated  with  drug 
dependence30  was  drafted  in  2006  and  sent  to  the  Council  and  Parliament  in  2007. 
Preparations  were  started  on  a  report  on  drugs  treatment  and  a  proposal  for  a 
Council  Recommendation  on  drugs  and  prisons  as  set  out  in  the  European  Drugs 
Action Plan due respectively in 2007 and in 2008. 

A  number  of  measures  were  taken  under  the  EU  Environment  and  Health  Action 
Plan  2004-2010.  An  expert  working  group  on  indoor  air  quality  was  set  up  in 
October  2006  with  a  mandate  to  provide  a  forum  for  sharing  best  practice  and 
information,  to  advise  the  Commission  on  EU  programmes  and  polices  related  to 
indoor  air  quality,  and  to  advise  on  actions  aimed  at  reducing  relevant  pollutant 
emission/concentration. 

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30 

http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/life_style/Tobacco/help/manifesto_en.htm. 
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/life_style/mental/green_paper/consultation_en.htm. 
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/life_style/mental/green_paper/mental_gp_en.pdf. 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/com/2007/com2007_0199en01.pdf. 

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6.4. 

Risk assessment 

The  Scientific  Committees  relevant  to  the  Public  Health  Programme  (2003-2008) 
were financed as laid down in Article 1.4.6 of the Work Plan for 200631. 

During 2006, the three Scientific Committees32, namely the Scientific Committee on 
Consumer  Products  (the  SCCP), 
the  Scientific  Committee  on  Health  and 
Environmental Risks (the SCHER), and the Scientific Committee on Emerging and 
Newly  Identified  Health  Risks  (the  SCENIHR),  adopted  a  wide  range  of  opinions 
covering  such  matters  as  certain  hair  dyes  (as  part  of  a  review  of  possible  cancer 
risks),  the  safety  of  sun  beds,  existing  substances  under  Regulation 793/93,  other 
substances  like  organotins,  the  possible  effects  of  substances  released  by  air 
freshener  products,  the  effect  of  electromagnetic  fields  on  human  health  and  the 
appropriateness of existing methodologies for assessing the risks of nanomaterials. 

To  take  account  of  new  scientific  data  on  electromagnetic  fields,  the  Scientific 
Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks33 (SCENIHR) was asked 
to undertake a comprehensive review of the opinion of the Scientific Committee on 
Toxicity,  Eco-toxicity  and  the  Environment  (SCTEE)  of  October  2001  on  the 
possible  health  effects  of  electromagnetic  fields,  radio  frequency  fields  and 
microwave radiation. The SCENIHR opinion was subject to public consultation from 
September to November and a final version was to be published in the first quarter of 
2007. 

In  the  light  of  the  results  of  a  consultation  launched  in  October  2005  on  risk 
assessment methods for the products of nanotechnologies, in March the SCENIHR 
adopted  an  opinion  on  the  appropriateness  of  existing  methodologies  to  assess  the 
potential  risks  of  nanomaterials.  The  SCENIHR  opinion  concluded  that  some 
changes  to  current  testing  and  monitoring  methods  would  be  needed  to  reflect  the 
unique properties of nanotechnology products and highlighted the need for a case-by-
case  approach  to  risk  assessment.  It  also  identified  gaps  in  knowledge,  especially 
regarding human exposure, health effects and the environmental impacts. 

Cooperation  between  the  Scientific  Committees  and  panels  of  the  Health  and 
Consumer Protection Directorate-General, the Employment, Social Affairs and Equal 
Opportunities  Directorate-General,  the  European  Food  Safety  Authority,  the 
European  Centre  for  Disease  Control,  the  European  Medicines  Agency  and  the 
European  Environmental  Agency  was  confirmed  at their  second  meeting,  as  was 
their  common  interest  in  working  together  within  a  common  framework  for  risk 
assessment. 

31 
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OJ L 42, 14.2.2006, p. 29. 
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_risk/committees/committees_en.htm. 
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_risk/committees/04_scenihr/04_scenihr_en.htm. 

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   EN