Public health: action plan to combat cancer 1996-2000

In its opinion following on from the European Parliament's opinion at second reading, the Commission amended the Council's common position by taking over the amendments aimed at: - setting the programme's budget at ECU 64 million (as opposed to the ECU 59 million proposed by the Council); - removing the examples of possible measures included in the body of the text where the annex clearly explains the impact of these measures; - as regards the implementation of the programme, establishing a cooperation network between the Commission, the national coordination committees and the institutions working to prevent cancer to ensure that Community action acted as a catalyst for action in the Member States (the Commission also restored the programme's structure of five sections); - guaranteeing both the implementation of the programme by the Member States where necessary at national level and greater consistency and complementarity between the programme and other purely Community actions; - as regards the measures themselves, supporting the measures combating tobacco and giving greater consideration to the fact that elements such as the environment (measures targeted at specific groups) and poor dietary habits may increase the risk of developing cancer. Similarly, the Commission maintained its basic reservation concerning the problem of comitology and did not take over certain amendments adopted by the EP, including, in particular, those relating to the adoption of preventative measures aimed at young people and children and the plan to publicise the actions undertaken (in particular, regular information for the EP). �