12.6. The Public Health Forum

Another major activity undertaken by the European Commission is the Public Health Forum. The Commission is committed to maximize the impact and effectiveness of the Forum, and will therefore aim at involving the Forum already at an early stage of the policy process. It also intends to report back to the Forum about the follow-up given to its positions and will seek to give it an opportunity to review issues as appropriate. The European Public Health Forum has a three-tier structure:

·          a health policy forum, with a membership defined by invitation. It discusses key policy areas and is, together with the Commission services, in charge of the preparation of the Open Forum;

·          an open forum, which focuses on one or two main topics for discussion and where all interested parties can attend; and

·          a virtual forum, which uses information technology to enable the exchange of information and to foster discussions among citizens and the public health community at large.

The Commission involves the following key groups of organizations in the Policy Forum: (i) non-governmental organizations in the public health field, and patients’ organizations; (ii) organizations representing health professionals and trade unions; (iii) health service providers and health insurance; and (iv) industry with a particular health interest.

Representation between the key groups of stakeholders is properly balanced. Participation is normally restricted, however, to European organizations and to bodies that have members in at least half of the EU Member States.