Policy and Regulatory Issues 303scientifi c advice on all matters with a direct or indi-
rect impact on food safety. The Authority has been
given a wide brief, so that it can cover all stages of
food production and supply, from primary produc-
tion to the safety of animal feed, right through to the
supply of food to consumers. It gathers information
from all parts of the globe, keeping an eye on new
developments in science. It shares its fi ndings and
listens to the views of others through a network (advi-
sory forum) that will be developed over time, as well
as interacting with experts and decision-makers on
many levels. Although the Authority’s main “cus-
tomer” is the Commission, it is open to respond to
scientifi c questions from the European Parliament
and the Member States and it can also initiate risk
assessments on its own behalf. The Authority carries
out assessments of risks to the food chain and indeed
can carry out scientifi c assessment on any matter that
may have a direct or indirect effect on the safety of
the food supply, including matters relating to animal
health, animal welfare, and plant health. The Authority
also gives scientifi c advice on non-food and feed,
genetically modifi ed organisms (GMOs), and on
nutrition in relation to Community legislation.
EU nutrition and public health
With regard to public health, the Community’s role
is to complement national policies, to encourage
cooperation between the Member States and to lend
support to their action when it comes to improving
public health, preventing human disease, and reduc-
ing risks to human health. In keeping with the prin-
ciple of subsidiarity, Community action in the fi eld
of public health is designed to fully respect the respon-
sibilities of the Member States for the organization
and delivery of health services and medical care.
In 2000 the European Commission adopted a
Communication on the Health Strategy of the Euro-
pean Community. This described how the Commis-
sion was working to achieve a coherent and effective
approach to health issues across all the different policy
areas and emphasized that health services must meet
the population’s needs and concerns, in a context
characterized by the challenge of aging and the growth
of new medical techniques, as well as the more inter-
national dimension of health care (contagious dis-
eases, environmental health, increased mobility of
persons, services and goods). A new Health Strategy
for the EU 2008–2013 was adopted in 2007. The Strat-
egy encompasses work not only in the health sector
but across all policy areas. In the nutrition arena, the
scientifi c community has estimated that an unhealthy
diet and a sedentary lifestyle might be responsible for
up to one-third of the cases of cancers, and for
approximately one-third of premature deaths due to
cardiovascular disease in Europe. Nutrition and phys-
ical activity are key determinants for the prevalence
of obesity, which continues to rise in the EU among
children and adults.
In terms of nutrition the two main objectives are to
collect quality information and make it accessible to
people, professionals, and policy-makers, and to estab-
lish a network of Member State expert institutes to
improve dietary habits and physical activity habits in
Europe. The long-term objective is to work toward the
establishment of a coherent and comprehensive com-
munity strategy on diet, physical activity, and health,
which will be built progressively. It will include the
mainstreaming of nutrition and physical activity into
all relevant policies at local, regional, national, and
European levels and the creation of the necessary sup-
porting environments. At Community level, such a
strategy would cut across a number of Community
policies and needs to be actively supported by them. It
would also need to actively engage all relevant stake-
holders, including the food industry, civil society, and
the media. Finally, it would need to be based on sound
scientifi c evidence showing relations between certain
dietary patterns and risk factors for certain chronic
diseases. The European Network on Nutrition and
Physical Activity, which the Commission established,
will give advice during the process. The Community
approach is inspired by the WHO’s Global Strategy on
Diet Physical Activity and Health, which was adopted
unanimously by the World Health Assembly.
In 2005, the Commission launched a new forum,
called “Diet, Physical Activity and Health – a Euro-
pean Platform for Action.” The platform brought
together all relevant players active at European level
that were willing to enter into binding and verifi able
commitments that could help to halt and reverse
current obesity trends. This included retailers, food
processors, the catering industry, the advertising busi-
ness, consumer and health NGOs, the medical profes-
sions, and the EU presidency. It enables all individual
obesity-related initiatives to be more promptly shared
among potential partners and across the EU as a
whole. In December 2005 the Commission published