EU News
Austrian Presidency 2006 Health Priorities
In the first half of 2006 (January – June), Austria will hold the EU Presidency. One of the top priorities for the Austrian Presidency will be women's health. As part of this effort, Austria is planning to host a conference on women's health and establish a European Institute for Gender Equality. Rumor has it that the conference will be held in June -- stay tuned for more details! By the end of 2005, the Presidency also is planning to issue a communication on how HIV/AIDS will be handled during its term.
http://www.epha.org/a/1956
Also, a calendar for the Council working group meetings under the Austrian Presidency can be found at: http://www.regeringen.se/content/1/c6/04/96/71/19ab5413.pdf
Development Policy Statement
18 October 2005
The UK Presidency released a revised draft of the EU's Development Policy Statement last week. The redraft recognizes that “In order to make progress in eradicating poverty, it is vital to confront the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria in developing countries”. In order to achieve this, the EC has pledged to “support the full implementation of strategies to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights as an essential component of HIV/AIDS prevention and fully explore links and synergies between AIDS prevention and strategies to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights”. If you would like a copy of the latest draft, let us know.
Promoting Gender Equality
9 – 11 November 2005
Gender experts gathered last week in Brussels at an international conference on “Owning Development: Promoting Gender Equality in New Modalities and Partnerships” to examine how changing development policies affect efforts to promote gender equality and women's rights. The event was jointly hosted by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the European Commission.
http://www.ipsterraviva.net/Europe/article.aspx?id=2569
Open Health Forum
7 – 8 November 2005
The European Commission held an open health forum this week entitled “Health Challenges and Future Strategy”. The aim of the forum was to offer an opportunity for networking and exchange of ideas from different stakeholders of the European health community. Principle speakers included: Robert Mandelin, Director General for Health and Consumer Protection, Anne van Lancker, Member of the European Parliament. Parallel sessions on “Development of the EU Health Strategy,” “Health Products” and “Health Services” offered stakeholders the opportunity to provide input.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_overview/health_forum/open_forum_en.htm
EU in Economic Partnership Talks with West Africa
04 November 2005
West African Ministers met with Peter Mandelson, the EU Trade Commissioner, last week to agree on the next phase of the Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations between the two regions. Negotiations have been agreed to start in 2006.
http://www.europaworld.org/week244/euin41105.htm
Still No Budget Deal
07 November 2005
For everyone who hoped that last week's EU budgets talks would result in some sort of progress, the outcome of Monday's meeting is a great disappointment. Neither the UK, with regards to its rebate, nor France, with regards to its farm aid, was prepared to budge on its stance.
http://euobserver.com/9/20267
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