The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council will meet on 16 and 17 December. The Health and Consumer Affairs part of the Council will be taken on 16 December.

Items on the main agenda are: adoption of Council conclusions on health security; and Council conclusions on public health strategies to combat neurodegenerative diseases associated with ageing and in particular Alzheimer’s disease. The United Kingdom supports these conclusions.

The presidency also intends to provide a progress report on the proposal for a directive on cross-border healthcare followed by a debate for member states. There will also be a presentation by the European Commission on the recently published proposal for a Council recommendation on European actions in the field of rare diseases, followed by an exchange of views.

Under any other business, the presidency and the Commission intend to provide information on the Council high level working party on public health on the health strategy; proposals for a regulation on the provision of food information to consumers; directive with regards variations to the terms of marketing authorisations for medicinal products; proposal for a directive on the quality and safety of organ donations; proposal for a recommendation on the safety of patients and the quality of health services including the prevention and control of nosocomial infections; Commission Green Paper on health professionals; information on events organised during the French presidency; Commission’s High Level Group on health services and medical care; Commission communication on the future of pharmaceutical products and legislative proposals on pharmacovigilance, counterfeiting and information to patients; proposal for a directive amending directives on the structure and rates of excise duty applied on manufactured tobacco; strengthening of co-operation between member states in the field of e-health; and the forthcoming work programme of the incoming Czech presidency.