§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner)My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Health (Mr Hutton) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The next meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council will be on 6 and 7 December. Items on the agenda relating to health will be covered on 6 December.
Items for discussion are: a co-ordinated approach to combat HIV/AIDS in the European Union and its neighbourhood; European Commission proposals for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on medicinal products for paediatric use; and the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on nutrition and health claims made on foods. I will attend for the United Kingdom.
Health Ministers will have a public debate on HIV/AIDS, where they will be asked to focus on next steps for both European Community and national level action. This will be followed by a first Council discussion of the European Commission proposal on paediatric medicines, which aims to encourage the development of medicines for children. There will be a presentation by the European Commission, followed by interventions from some member states.
There will be an exchange of views on the proposal to regulate health and nutritional claims on food labelling. Discussion will be structured around the Dutch presidency questions on the key issue of nutrient profiling, the proposed method to identify foods or categories of foods which will be permitted to make claims. Ministers will be asked to adopt the draft Council conclusions on a European response to emerging zoonotic diseases. The UK can agree to adopt these conclusions as currently drafted.
Under "Any Other Business", the Dutch presidency will report on progress made to establish the Council's public health working party meeting on a high official level, which had its first meeting on 23 November 2004. The European Commission will also present the interim report of the High Level Group on Health Care and Medical Services.
At lunch on 6 December, health Ministers will also discuss pandemic preparedness planning.