EU cooperation within areas covered by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs
The Member States of the European Union cooperate within several areas covered by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.
Some areas have governing rules in the form of regulations and directives. In others, there are strategies, action plans or programmes which define the direction of Member
States' work. They also cooperate in the way that they compare themselves with one another to learn from good practice and examples.
The highest decision-making body is the Council of the European Union. When a prioritised issue for the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs is addressed at a Council meeting, the responsible minister participates. The issues are usually addressed in some of the following Council configurations:
- Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) at the Council of the EU web site
- Competitiveness Council (COMPET) at the Council of the EU web site
- General Affairs Council (GAC) at the Council of the EU web site
- Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council (TTE)
The committees concerned within the European Parliament are mainly:
- Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) at the European Parliament web site
- Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) at the European Parliament web site
- Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) at the European Parliament web site
Within the European Commission, the following Directorates-General are primarily those that work with issues covered by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs:
