Friday
27th Apr 2018
Years of heavy-duty and expensive lobbying, including of a European commissioner for health, has not opened the way for mouth tobacco sales in the EU. The EU court in Luxembourg last week refused to lift the ban.
This week the world celebrates World Malaria Day, a time to take stock of progress to date, much of which has been made possible through investments by the EU, a world leader in development aid.
Bisphenol A is toxic for reproduction and a substance "of very high concern", but PlasticsEurope has filed a case at the EU court to overturn that listing.
Companies are required to check if their 'novel' food product is allowed. But breaking that EU rule is not as costly in some member states as in other EU countries.
The European Commission is considering rolling back medical research incentives, on the faulty assumption they are somehow driving higher drug prices. But not only is that premise flawed – the proposed fix will do nothing to benefit ordinary health consumers.
The European Union is on course to spectacularly miss a self-imposed road safety target, with 25,300 people killed on EU roads in 2017.
The European Parliament's agriculture committee meets on Tuesday, with speculation that the EPP will vote against a report on the EU plant protein plan if it mentions switching away from animals to plant-based diets.
Breast cancer is still the most frequent cause of cancer death for women in Europe - but life expectancy of patients in Romania or Poland are lower than the EU average, and screening programmes vary hugely.
Most EU states forget to tell Brussels how they will punish misuse of the toxic metal, despite legally agreed deadlines having passed.
The World Health Organization has called upon policymakers in the EU to take forward a decisive action to clean up the air for the benefit of citizens.
The European Commission is putting in place a tracking mechanism but the devil will be in the detail in terms of involvement by big tobacco companies.
Anti-smuggling expert Luk Joossens says draft bill in European Parliament on a 'track-and-trace' system - due by May 2019 - will bring improvements, and that a veto 'would be the nuclear solution'.
As our leaders aim to get the EU back on track, they should remember that healthy populations are the basis for strong economic growth.
The decision to move the European Medicines Agency to Amsterdam still needs to be approved by the European Parliament, which was hardly involved in the process.
Social and geographical inequalities in Europeans' health are one of the main challenges for the EU, says health commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis. He calls on finance ministers to look at the consequences for their country's economies and competitiveness.
As of January 1, 2018 Denmark now permits the use of medical cannabis for patients suffering from various illnesses. But a stigma still lingers against the use of the plant-based drug as a medicine across Europe.
A five-year renewal of the herbicide glyphosate, used in Monsanto's Roundup, was officially adopted by the EU Commission on Tuesday despite public alarm.
Leading scientists and conservation groups have said the EU's plastics strategy must include 'serious regulation' given the potential impact of microplastic pollution on human health.
In recent years, proposals for bans and restrictions on voluntary terminations have risen in some EU member states - as well as bills proposing more 'conditions' before women are allowed to access abortions.
EU member states broke an 18-month deadlock over a controversial renewal of the weedkiller. But politicians and NGO continue to call for a ban.
EU health commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis is encouraging states to spend more to prevent diseases that weigh much on health systems.
War of words continue in the run-up to next week's final vote on whether to renew the licence for the herbicide glyphosate, a chemical in Monsanto's Roundup.
Campaigners are calling on EU and national policymakers to help lung disease sufferers live longer and keep them out of hospital.
Animal agriculture is responsible for a significant share of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, but until recently it 'was an issue that was really brushed under the carpet'.
Member states failed to agree on a licence renewal for weedkiller glyphosate. A new vote will take place before 22 November at the European Commission's appeal committee.
So-called 'sin' taxes on sugar, tobacco and other products infantilise consumers - and show few public health outcomes.
While the conversation on air quality usually focuses on the outside world, many of the dangers could be much closer to home.
Children and young people spend too much time playing with smartphones and tablets, eating and drinking unhealthy foods and not moving much, said EU commissioner of health Vytenis Andriukaitis. So what is the EU doing about it?
Member state representatives met on Wednesday to discuss a renewal of the licence of the controversial weedkiller. 'At the conclusion of the meeting, no vote was taken', the commission said.
There is a certain irony when governments profess to be digital health leaders, while IT infrastructures in hospitals still use long-forgotten versions of Windows.
Despite the discussion with concerned citizens, the European Commission is continuing with a committee meeting on glyphosate this Wednesday.
"Even a narrow reading" of EU competition law is enough to block the controversial mega-merger between Bayer and Monsanto, according to a new legal study.
