Health

British football clubs want to lead the way in reducing single-use plastics

Football can bring joy or frustration to supporters... but also a lot of waste. UK football teams have decided to introduce reusable cups in stadiums, as part of a joint initiative by the Premier League and British TV channel Sky News.

Saving energy, a European challenge of varying scale

Several EU member states, including France, have chosen to implement laws that would allow the trading of energy saving certificates, an important shift towards saving energy.

EU track and trace system risks missing the deadline

EU member states have not yet taken the necessary measures from the Tobacco Product Directive II to implement a track and trace system for tackling illicit tobacco trade, which risks creating disruptions in the single market, EURACTIV has learnt.

RAPEX, the safety guarantee for European products

The rapid alert system removed more than 2,000 dangerous products from the European market in 2018. However, much remains to be done about security, notably with regards to China. EURACTIV France reports.

A circular economy retrospective

Recycling, reuse and all things circular are taking on more and more importance in Europe. Sustainability will remain high on the agenda of the next EU legislative cycle but what tools are in place to help the industry get it across the line?

Katainen: Same level of priority for food and medicine in no-deal Brexit

Medicine supplies and food safety standards are both vital and the EU cannot prioritise one over the other in the event of a no-deal Brexit, Vice President of the Commission Jyrki Katainen said on Thursday (4 April).

Animal health law: A power tool against illegal puppy trade?

The EU needs around 8 million puppies annually to meet consumer demand - far beyond legitimate breeders’ capacity. As a result, the illegal online puppy trade is booming, and state-of-the-art trafficking networks benefit from a market approximately worth over €1 billion per year, writes Georgia Diamantopoulou.

Extreme weather cost Europe nearly half a trillion euros so far

Floods, droughts, heatwaves and other climate-related extremes caused economic losses of €453 billion between 1980 and 2017, claiming the lives of more than 115,000 people across Europe.

Smoking is slavery and against human rights, activists say

Smoking is a form of slavery and is completely incompatible with widely recognised human rights, activists against smoking have said. They also criticised the so-called novel tobacco products for muddying the waters with the claims of being "much less harmful". EURACTIV.com reports from Bucharest.

Andriukaitis: I like criticism from anti-vaxxers, it means I’m doing my job

Before taking a temporary unpaid leave from his position in Brussels, EU health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis looked back over his mandate in an exclusive interview with EURACTIV.com, highlighting his fight to promote vaccination and tackle resistance to antibiotics.

E-cigarettes should be treated as a normal consumer good, industry says

Electronic cigarettes should be seen as a normal consumer product and not be regulated under the Tobacco Products Directive, according to Giovanni Carucci, vice president EU affairs at British American Tobacco (BAT).

A Europe that Champions Well-being: Reframing EU priorities for the next five years

A global paradigm shift is occurring in attitudes towards economic and social progress. From a GDP centred model, a new paradigm now focuses on improving citizen’s well-being. All Policies for a Healthy Europe is a multi-stakeholder initiative calling for Europe...

WHO official: With e-cigarettes, the tobacco industry just ‘changed clothes’

In an interview with EURACTIV.com, Dr Vera Luiza da Costa, the Head of Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), has lashed out against the tobacco industry, saying that with its push for electronic cigarettes the trade “just changed clothes while the content remains the same.”

Individual action against smoking is not enough, Romanian president says

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis accused the country’s socialist government on Tuesday (26 March) of failing to inform citizens about tobacco-related risks and ignoring prevention as a tool against smoking. EURACTIV.com reports from Bucharest.

Spanish footfall club turns fan waste into organic fertiliser

Spanish football club Real Sociedad is turning the shells of sunflower seeds that supporters eat during matches into compost that local farms use as organic fertiliser.

Lawmakers, stakeholders see delivering economics of well-being as next health challenge

The well-being of EU citizens should be made a priority and an intersectoral approach integrating policy areas such as housing, fighting pollution and digital transformation into health can also help bring about new economic models, MEPs and civil society representatives agree.

EU health chief: Next Commission will strengthen tobacco rules

The next European Commission will propose strengthening tobacco regulations, based on a report showing how the Tobacco Product Directive (TPD) works in practice, the EU Commissioner responsible for health, Vytenis Andriukaitis, told EURACTIV.com in an interview.

Public health activists say eradicating tobacco must be a human right

Halting the spread of tobacco “epidemic” worldwide is a human right, which global leaders should recognise as such and take particular measures in this direction, public health activists told EURACTIV.com ahead of an anti-tobacco conference in Bucharest next week.

Tobacco control: What’s next?

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Tobacco consumption is the most significant cause of premature death in the EU, according to the European Commission. It is responsible for nearly 700,000 deaths every year.

Pharma industry urges EU leaders to ‘re-focus’ on patients post-Brexit

The EU pharma industry has prepared for a hard Brexit scenario but this is not enough as EU leaders need to take specific measures to ensure medical supplies after the UK departure, EU pharma chief Stefan Oschmann has said.