EHJ August 2005, page 30-31

A new green paper has criticised the European Union for failing to push energy efficiency across the community. Tina Garrity reports on the paper's findings and rounds up all the other latest news from Europe

A new European Commission green paper is calling for the EU to do more to promote energy efficiency across its member states. Numerous studies have suggested that the EU could save at least 20 per cent of its present energy consumption in a cost-effective manner. The EU already leads the world in the development of energy efficiency equipment and services, and growth in this area could create up to one million new jobs.

The green paper reports that energy saving is a quick and effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality, and taking action in this way could help member states meet their Kyoto commitments.

The paper also notes that energy efficiency is one of the key methods for dealing with the challenge of unpredictable future energy prices. Current forecasts suggest that by 2030, the EU will be 90 per cent dependent on imports for its requirements of oil and 80 per cent dependent regarding gas.

The green paper identifies the bottlenecks that prevent cost-effective efficiencies from being captured, eg a lack of appropriate incentives, a lack of information and a lack of available financing mechanisms. It identifies a number of options to overcome these bottlenecks, such as:

• establishing annual energy efficiency action plans at a national level;
• giving citizens better information, for example through better targeted publicity;
• campaigns and improved product labelling;
• improving taxation to ensure that the polluter really pays;
• better targeting of state aid to provide an incentive to the efficient use of energy;
• using public procurement to "kick start" new energy efficient technologies;
• using new or improved financing instruments to encourage both companies and householders to introduce cost-effective improvements;
• extending EU rules on energy efficient buildings;
• speeding up the development of a new generation of more fuel-efficient vehicles.

To assist in the development of the new campaign, the Commission has set up a European sustainable energy forum, which will bring together the Commission, member states, the European parliament, national energy regulators, industry representatives and NGOs. The forum, which is expected to meet twice a year, plans to meet for the first time in October 2005, when the green paper will be discussed in detail. The Commission is also interested in hearing the views of ordinary EU citizens and other stakeholders

Contributions can be made via the Europa website at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/energy/efficiency/index_en.htm or by e-mailing the Commission's Directorate-General for Energy and Transport at: tren-energy-efficiency@cec.eu.int

New health and consumer protection strategy

One of the fallouts of the crisis over the EU constitution has been a setback to the way in which the EU budget is determined. The current draft budget is designed to cover the period 2007-2013 but if the UK presidency is unable to get agreement on it, the EU will have to go back to agreeing the budget on an annual basis.

At the moment funding for the EU's health and consumer protection programmes comes under the same budget heading as policies on security, terrorism and organised crime. The Luxembourg presidency proposed an increase of at least 18 per cent for the latter but only 5 per cent for the policy areas of health, consumer, youth and culture.

In an attempt to cut costs by streamlining administrative and budgetary procedures and by developing common tools and a common executive agency, the Commission is proposing to integrate its two existing strategies on consumer protection and on public health. A Commission communication setting out a new joint strategy and a community action programme on health and consumer protection was published earlier this year.

Health and consumer policies use many similar types of actions to pursue their objectives, eg information to citizens, consultation of stakeholders, mainstreaming activities and risk assessment. Bringing the two areas together, says the Commission, will lead to greater policy coherence, economies of scale and increased visibility.

The underlying themes of the programme's health section will be health inequalities, ageing and children's health. More specifically, the programme will seek to encourage a common approach to global health threats such as avian influenza and to develop tools to face common challenges that require health promotion and illness prevention. The growing burden of avoidable diseases related to lifestyle and addiction (eg tobacco, alcohol, drug use, nutrition), diseases such as HIV and mental illness, all call for EU level action, says the Commission.

Also envisaged is greater EU support for Europe's healthcare systems and expansion of the existing health information strand of the programme with a stronger focus on analysis and dissemination to citizens.

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

To implement the new joint programme, the Commission will be assisted by a single executive agency, which will consist of an extended version of the existing public health programme's executive agency. This will be organised in to the "health department" and the "consumer institute" and both departments will jointly manage the common actions. The budget envisaged for 2007-2017 is Û1,203m.

COM (2005) 115. Communication from the Commission..."Healthier, safer, more confident citizens: a health and consumer protection strategy."

http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_overview/Documents/com_2005_0115_en.pdf

Other European news

Over 100 amendments have been tabled to the European Commission's proposal for a regulation on the addition of vitamins and minerals and certain other substances to food.1

When the proposal reached the European Parliament in May, an amendment by John Bowis MEP successfully deleted fluoride as a permitted additive. The British Fluoridation Society is now planning lobbying activities at national level through their government representatives and through their MEPs to get fluoride back onto the list, according to the European Public Health Alliance.

Meanwhile, the UK has suggested including a clause in the proposal for a regulation on health and nutrition claims allowing member states to establish signposting schemes.2 Italy and Spain were initially against the proposal because they thought it would create a potential obstacle to the internal market.

To overcome this, the Commission has agreed to monitor the setting-up of any such schemes, which would have to be notified both to the Commission and to the other member states.

1. http://europa.eu.int/eurlex/lex/LexUriServ/site/en/com/2003/com2003_0671en01.pdf
2. http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/pdf/2003/com2003_0424en01.pdf

A new regulation issued under the ongoing zoonoses programme has set a reduction target in breeding flocks of gallus gallus for the five salmonella types that have been most commonly observed under the EU zoonoses monitoring regimes, namely salmonellas enteriditis, hadar, infantis, typhimurium and virchow. The target agreed is a reduction of the maximum percentage of adult breeding flocks comprising at least 250 birds remaining positive to 1 per cent or less by 31 December 2009. For member states with fewer than 100 breeding flocks, not more than one adult flock may remain positive n

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/l_170/l_17020050701en00120017.pdf