Awaiting the President

The European Commission, elected in 2004, will remain in office until the end of October. In the meantime procedures have begun for the choice of the future President of the Executive: after the unanimous agreement reached by the European Council to designate José Manuel Barroso for a second term, the pronouncement of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on his re-appointment is awaited: that could come during the inaugural session of the newly elected EP in mid-July.Many projects. Once the choice of Commission President has been determined, a decision will then have to be taken whether the Commissioners in the next Executive should be nominated – as seems probable – on the basis of the Treaty of Nice now in force or whether the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon should be awaited, with a possible extension of office of the current Executive. While political bargaining is already underway, the Barroso Commission is not sitting idly by but is busily continuing its programme of work. In recent days several provisions of a financial and environment character have been adopted, as well as others concentrated on external policy, single market, telecommunications, energy, fishing and support for workers who have been made redundant. Two measures adopted in recent days impact more immediately on citizens’ lives: the fight against cancer and an action plan for security. Partnership to combat tumours. “Conducting the battle on a European scale may really make the difference for those suffering from cancer, and for their families”, says Androulla Vassiliou, EU Commissioner for Health, describing the “European Partnership for combating tumours”, adopted at the Palais Berlaymont in Brussels earlier this week. Commitment at the EU level in combating this disease (which represents the second main cause of death in the continent) has figured in European public health policies since 1985. This priority has been translated into various plans of intervention. Vassiliou points out that, according to current data, “one person out of three will develop a form of tumour in the course of his/her life”. Each year over three million EU citizens suffer a diagnosis of this kind, “even if the geographic distribution and the distribution by age groups vary a great deal”, as also do the chances of obtaining effective treatment. Hence the Partnership proposed to member states, aimed at reinforcing cooperation in many fields: promotion of programmes of prevention; precocious analysis and diagnosis; spread of good practices for the treatment of cancer; priority and collaboration in the field of research. This proposal is addressed at all the subjects concerned, from governments to research institutes, from medical institutions to universities, down to organizations of civil society that operate in the field. Fight against biological terrorism. “An international response needs to be given to international terrorism”: under this slogan, long repeated in EU headquarters, the aim is to confirm the principle of coordinated action at the EU level as the best way to combat international terrorism. The latest measure adopted to this end is a preventive action plan “against the growing risk of terrorist attacks with chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons”. Commissioner for Security and Justice Jacques Barrot declared: “Fortunately in Europe we haven’t yet had any large-scale attack using these materials, but the gravity of the potential consequences for our society is such that we cannot remain idle”. The French politician pointed out that “so far explosives and firearms have been used in the majority of terrorist attacks throughout the world. But recent information suggests that terrorist groups aspire to use new weapons capable of causing death and destruction on a far greater scale”. That’s why the Commission has decided to present a series of measures to reinforce the security of materials at risk and the capability to intervene in the event of an attack.Plan with 130 operative measures. The Commission does not intend to adopt an alarmist attitude to the threat, but seems instead to prefer measures of prevention and the reinforcement of security. The three-year plan enumerates over 130 measures (aimed for example at identifying dangerous substances, exchanging information between security forces, protecting potentially lethal materials from the danger of theft, promoting rapid intervention in case of need to save human lives, and so on) “to prevent dangerous materials falling into the wrong hands and, in the event of that happening, being ready to intervene”. The plan is essentially aimed at supporting national governments, “on which primary responsibility for security rests”, the Commission underlines. The Executive proposes to use 100 million euros from existing funds to underwrite the implementation of these measures in the period 2010-2013. In terms of timetable, the plan adopted this week will be discussed at the EU Council in the second half of this year and should be ready for implementation from 2010.