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Public health policy has recently taken centre stage in EU policymaking with the COVID-19 pandemic, Parliament’s making cancer one of its areas of focus, and the push towards a stronger European Health Union. The European Health Union initiative addresses immediate and future health concerns, including the COVID-19 crisis, building resilience against cross-border health threats, implementing the Beating Cancer Plan, advancing the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe, and enhancing digital health.

Medicines and medical devices are subject to the rules of the single market and have a direct impact on people’s health. A robust legal framework is in place to protect public health and guarantee the safety of these products. Access to affordable medicines, the fight against antimicrobial resistance, the ethical conduct of clinical trials, the use of artificial intelligence in medical devices and incentives to research and development are just some of the key issues the EU deals with in this field ...

EU food safety policy aims to protect human health and consumer interests, and to foster the smooth operation of the single market. In recent years, a paradigm shift broadened food safety objectives to include climate change-induced food insecurity. The EU ensures that standards are adhered to in the areas of feed and food-product hygiene, animal health, plant health, food-borne zoonotic diseases and prevention of food contamination. The EU also regulates labelling for food and feed products.

European environment policy is based on the principles of precaution, prevention and rectifying pollution at source, and on the ‘polluter pays’ principle. The EU faces complex environmental issues, ranging from climate change and biodiversity loss to resource depletion and pollution. Environment policy has recently been moved to centre stage in EU policymaking, with the Commission launching the European Green Deal (2019) as the main driver of its economic growth strategy.

Air pollution is the largest environmental health risk in Europe. The 2013 EU air quality strategy aimed to achieve full compliance with existing air quality legislation by 2020 and set long-term objectives for 2030. The EU also aims to further improve air quality by revising the Ambient Air Quality Directives. The 2002 Environmental Noise Directive helps to identify noise levels in the EU and to take measures to reduce them to acceptable levels. Separate legislation regulates noise pollution from ...

Water is essential for human, animal and plant life and for the economy. Its protection and management transcend national boundaries. The EU’s water policy plays a crucial role in safeguarding the environment in the EU. There are laws designed to preserve water sources and both freshwater and marine ecosystems, and to guarantee the cleanliness of drinking and bathing water. The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) establishes a legal framework to protect and restore clean water in the EU and to ensure ...

As part of the Conference on the Future of Europe, 800 citizens debated their ideas for the European Union in four thematic panels. The citizens involved in Panel 4 considered the possibilities for two related themes: the EU in the world and migration. This publication presents their recommendations, as well as a selection of related European Parliament resolutions and EU legislation, funding programmes and other activities. These background elements are not exhaustive, but have been selected to ...

The iron and steel industry is a major contributor to the overall anthropogenic CO2 emissions worldwide, and therefore a significant driver of climate change. This paper explores the possible options for decarbonising iron and steel production processes, focusing on the use of renewable hydrogen as an alternative to fossil coal. It explains the basic physical and chemical differences between the two alternative processes, their cost structures and potential for further cost reductions, as well as ...

In recent years, smartphones have increasingly attracted attention as a key tools in emergency and disaster situations. Almost all smartphones are nowadays equipped with GPS sensors that can track the location of their owners. Comparing the location history of infected individuals with the location history of all other Smartphone users (tested positive or not yet tested) could help health authorities gain much better understanding of where the transmission might have occurred, and who else should ...

Cheap hydrogen produced with excess electricity from fluctuating renewable energy sources such as wind could help fuel-cell technology to break into the mainstream. This could at the same time further boost the competitiveness of wind and solar energy production