Joint policy implementation
1. A EU4Health Steering Group shall be established.
2. The Members of the EU4Health Steering Group shall be the Commission and the Member States. Each Member State shall appoint one member and one alternate member to the EU4Health Steering Group. The Commission shall provide the secretariat of the EU4Health Steering Group.
3. The Commission shall consult the EU4Health Steering Group:
(a)
on the Commission’s preparatory work for the annual work programmes;
(b)
each year, at least 6 months in advance of the presentation of the draft of the annual work programme to the committee referred to in Article 23(1), on the priorities and strategic orientations of the annual work programme.
4. The EU4Health Steering Group shall:
(a)
work towards ensuring that there is consistency and complementarity between the Member States’ health policies as well as between the Programme and other policies, instruments and actions of the Union, including those relevant to the Union agencies;
(b)
follow up the implementation of the Programme and propose any necessary adjustments based on evaluations;
(c)
adopt its rules of procedure, which shall contain provisions to ensure that the group will meet at least three times a year, in person where appropriate, thus allowing for a regular and transparent exchange of views among Member States.
Stakeholder consultation and information of the European Parliament
1. The Commission shall consult with relevant stakeholders, including representatives of civil society and patient organisations, to seek their views on:
(a)
the priorities and strategic orientation of the annual work programme;
(b)
the needs to be addressed through the annual work programme and the results achieved through it.
2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, the Commission shall organise the consultation and information of stakeholders at least once a year, in the six months preceding the presentation of the draft work programme to the committee referred to in Article 23(1).
3. The Commission may at any time seek the views of relevant decentralised agencies and of independent experts in the field of health on technical or scientific matters of relevance for the implementation of the Programme.
4. Each year, prior to the last meeting of the EU4Health Steering Group, the Commission shall present to the European Parliament the outcomes of the proceedings of the EU4Health Steering Group and the consultation of stakeholders referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.
Implementation of the Programme
1. The Commission shall implement the Programme by establishing annual work programmes in accordance with the Financial Regulation.
2. The Commission shall adopt, by means of implementing acts:
(a)
the annual work programmes, which shall set out, in particular:
(i)
the actions to be undertaken, including the indicative allocation of financial resources;
(ii)
the overall amount reserved for blending operations;
(iii)
eligible actions falling under Article 7(3) and (4);
(iv)
eligible actions by legal entities referred to in point (b) of Article 13(1);
(v)
eligible actions by legal entities from a third country not associated to the Programme but listed in the annual work programme under the conditions laid down in Article 13(2) and (3);
(b)
decisions approving actions with a cost of EUR 20 000 000 or more;
(c)
rules establishing:
(i)
the technical and administrative arrangements necessary for the implementation of the actions of the Programme;
(ii)
uniform templates for the collection of data necessary to monitor the implementation of the Programme.
3. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 23(2).
Data protection
In managing and implementing the Programme, the Commission and the Member States shall ensure that there is compliance with all relevant legal provisions regarding personal data protection and, where appropriate, that mechanisms are introduced to ensure that such data remain confidential and safe.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
