Commission Decision of 7 December 2022 setting up a Commission expert group on public health and repealing Commission Decision setting up a Commission expert group ‘Steering Group on Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Management of Non-Communicable Diseases’ (Text with EEA relevance) 2022/C 471/08

The expert group on public health, (‘the group’), is set up.

The group’s tasks shall be: (a) to assist the Commission in the preparation of policy and legislative initiatives and activities addressing major public health challenges, including non-communicable diseases as well as communicable diseases. (b) to advise the Commission on taking any useful initiative aimed at establishing of guidelines and indicators, organising exchange of best, promising, and innovative practices, and implementable research results in the field of public health and health systems for transfer between Member States. (c) to provide advice on relevant policies or actions in the field of communicable diseases, on the Commission’s request. In this respect the Health Security Committee may indicate to the Commission areas in which the expert group’s advice is needed to promote coordination among Member States, to promote priority setting and create synergies between relevant policy areas which have an impact on public health; relevant EU agencies may also be asked to provide advice and information in respect of their areas of competence.

The Commission may consult the group on any matter relating to public health.

Members of the group shall be composed of Member States’ authorities which shall nominate permanent representatives in the expert group or sub-group or appoint representatives on an ad hoc basis, depending on the meeting agenda of the group. They shall be responsible for ensuring that their representatives provide a high level of expertise relevant to the tasks of the group, namely in public health.

The group shall be chaired by a representative of the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE).

1 The group shall act at the request of DG SANTE, in compliance with the horizontal rules governing the creation and operation of expert groups and the creation of a public register of these groups .

2 Meetings of the group shall, in principle, be held on Commission premises or virtually, depending on the circumstances.

3 DG SANTE shall provide secretarial services. Commission officials from other departments with an interest in the proceedings may attend meetings of the group and its sub-groups.

4 In agreement with DG SANTE, the group may, by simple majority of its members, decide that deliberations shall be public.

5 Minutes on the discussion on each point on the agenda and on the opinions delivered by the group shall be meaningful and complete. Minutes shall be drafted by the Secretariat under the responsibility of the Chair.

6 As far as possible, the group shall adopt its opinions, recommendations, or reports by consensus. In the event of a vote, the outcome of the vote shall be decided by simple majority of the members. Members who have voted against or abstained shall have the right to have a document summarising the reasons for their position annexed to the opinions, recommendations, or reports.

1 DG SANTE may set up sub-groups for the purpose of examining specific questions on the basis of terms of reference defined by DG SANTE. Sub-groups shall operate in compliance with the horizontal rules and shall report to the group. They shall be dissolved as soon as their mandate is fulfilled.

2 Sub-groups on cancer, non-communicable diseases and proton therapy centres which were set up under the ‘Steering Group on Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Management of Non-Communicable Diseases’ and still operating at the time of the entry into force of this decision, should continue as sub-groups also under the ‘Expert group on public health’.

DG SANTE may invite experts from other DGs and EU entities as well as experts with specific expertise in a subject matter on the agenda to take part in the work of the group or sub-groups on an ad hoc basis.

1 Public entities other than Member States’ authorities may be granted observer status, in compliance with the Commission’s horizontal rules, by direct invitation.

2 Public entities appointed as observers shall nominate their representatives in the relevant expert group or sub-group.

3 Observers and their representatives may be permitted by the Chair to take part in the discussions of the group and its sub-groups and provide expertise. However, they shall not have voting rights and shall not participate in formulating the group’s recommendations or advice.

On a proposal by and in agreement with DG SANTE, the group shall adopt its rules of procedure by simple majority of its members, on the basis of the standard rules of procedure for expert groups, in compliance with the horizontal rules. Sub-groups shall operate in compliance with the group’s rules of procedure.

The members of the group and their representatives, as well as invited experts and observers are subject to the obligation of professional secrecy, which by virtue of the Treaties and the rules implementing them applies to all members of the institutions and their staff. They are also subject to the Commission’s rules on security regarding the protection of Union classified information, laid down in Commission Decisions (EU, Euratom) 2015/443 and 2015/444 . Should they fail to respect these obligations, the Commission may take all appropriate measures.

1 The group and its sub-groups shall be registered in the Register of Commission expert groups and other similar entities (‘the Register of expert groups’).

2 As concerns the composition of the group and sub-groups, the following data shall be published in the Register of expert groups: a) the name of Member States’ authorities b) the name of other public entities c) the name of the public entity to which the observer’s status was granted

3 All relevant documents, including the agendas, the minutes and the participants’ submissions, shall be made available via a link from the Register of expert groups to a dedicated website, where this information can be found. Access to dedicated websites shall not be submitted to user registration or any other restriction. In particular, the agenda and other relevant background documents shall be published in due time ahead of the meeting, followed by timely publication of minutes. Exceptions to publication shall only be possible where it is deemed that disclosure of a document would undermine the protection of a public or private interest as defined in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No° 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council .

1 Participants in the activities of the group and sub-groups shall not be remunerated for the services they offer.

2 Travel and subsistence expenses incurred by participants in the activities of the group and sub-groups shall be reimbursed by the Commission. Reimbursement shall be made in accordance with the provisions in force within the Commission and within the limits of the budget made available to the Commission departments under the annual procedure for the allocation of resources.

The Commission Decision setting up a Commission expert group ‘Steering Group on Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Management of Non-Communicable Diseases’ and repealing the Decision setting up a Commission expert group on rare diseases and the Decision establishing a Commission expert group on Cancer Control, is hereby repealed.

This Decision shall apply for 5 years from the date of adoption.