The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Jane Ellison)
The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) Council met in Brussels to discuss health issues on 1 December. The UK was represented at the meeting by the UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the EU.
The Italian presidency provided a progress report on the medical devices regulations. Member states recognised the importance of making swift progress under the upcoming Latvian presidency. The UK underlined that it did not see the value in introducing an additional pre-market scrutiny mechanism.
Council conclusions were adopted on: vaccination as an effective tool in public health; patient safety and quality of care, including the prevention and control of health care associated infections and antimicrobial resistance; and innovation for the benefit of patients.
There was an exchange of views on the mid-term review of the Europe 2020 strategy, and the value of including health in the strategy. The UK argued against expanding the strategy to include health policy on the grounds that the management and delivery of health care is a national competence and stated that a strategy focused on jobs and growth would be the most effective.
Under any other business, the Health Commissioner gave an update on the work being done by the Commission to combat the Ebola outbreak. Spain called on member states and the EU to sign the Council of Europe Convention against trafficking in human organs. There was discussion on an agenda item tabled by Luxembourg which focused on the admission criteria for men who have sex with men (MSM) to donate blood. The Italian presidency provided information on the outcomes of conferences held during their tenure.
The incoming Latvian presidency discussed its priorities. There will be three overarching priorities: competiveness and growth, the digital economy, and the EU’s role in the global arena. On health, they will prioritise:
Healthy lifestyles;
the medical devices regulations;
the new EU alcohol strategy;
the upcoming Eastern Partnership conference on multi-resistant tuberculosis.
During the ministerial lunch, there was a discussion on Ebola. The UK outlined the action it had taken so far and encouraged other member states to make further contributions.
The Italian presidency also drew attention to the fact that the meeting coincided with World AIDS day.