8 Health-enhancing physical activity
| (35292)
13277/13
COM(13) 603
ADDs 1-3
| Draft Council Recommendation on promoting health-enhancing physical activity across sectors
Impact Assessments
|
| Legal base | Articles 165 and 168 TFEU; QMV
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| Document originated | 28 August 2013
|
| Deposited in Parliament | 11 September 2013
|
| Department | Health
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 28 October 2013
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| Discussion in Council | 26 November 2013
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
8.1 In 2007, the Commission published a White Paper on Sport which
demonstrated the extent to which EU law and policies affect sport
and sought to "give strategic orientation on the role of
sport in Europe, to encourage debate on specific problems, to
enhance the visibility of sport in EU policy-making and to raise
public awareness of the needs and specificities of the sector".[9]
It was accompanied by an Action Plan setting out initiatives which
the Commission intended to take or support, while fully respecting
the principle of subsidiarity and the autonomy of sporting organisations.
Both documents recognised the role of sport and physical activity
as a means of promoting public health goals and recommended developing
EU guidelines on physical activity which were subsequently adopted
in 2008.
8.2 With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty,
on 1 December 2009, the EU acquired a specific competence (set
out in Article 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union (TFEU)) to "contribute to the promotion of European
sporting issues" and to develop "the European dimension
in sport". The EU also has competence, under Article 168
TFEU, to support and complement national policies in the field
of public health with a view to "preventing human illness
and diseases, and obviating sources of danger to physical and
mental health". The type of activities envisaged include
"the establishment of guidelines and indicators, the organisation
of exchange of best practice, and the preparation of the necessary
elements for periodic monitoring and evaluation".[10]
Articles 165 and 168 TFEU both contemplate the adoption of incentive
measures or non-binding Council Recommendations and preclude the
harmonisation of national laws.
8.3 A Commission Communication published in 2011
included an analysis of the societal role of sport and the importance
of physical activity as a means of promoting social inclusion
and healthy living.[11]
It suggested that the EU could "add value" by helping
Member States to develop comparable data to inform their policy
making and by supporting the development of transnational networks
and the exchange of good practice.
8.4 In November 2012, the Council agreed Conclusions
which encouraged Member States to develop and implement strategies
and cross-sectoral policies to promote physical activity and invited
the Commission to propose a Council Recommendation on health-enhancing
physical activity. The Conclusions envisaged "a light monitoring
framework to evaluate progress with the help of a limited set
of indicators that builds to the largest possible extent on available
data sources" as well as the sharing of best practice.[12]
The draft Council Recommendation
8.5 Existing efforts to promote physical activity,
based on the EU Physical Activity Guidelines agreed in 2008, have
not succeeded in increasing the rate of physical activity across
all Member States to the levels recommended by the World Health
Organisation. The purpose of the draft Council Recommendation
is to encourage the development of more effective policies on
health-enhancing physical activity. It invites Member States
to:
· develop
national strategies and action plans on health-enhancing physical
activity involving a broad range of policy areas, such as sport,
health, education, environment and transport, that have a bearing
on participation in physical activity;
· monitor
levels of physical activity across the population, using the set
of indicators annexed to the draft Recommendation;
· appoint
a national "focal point" to collate data required for
the EU monitoring framework and other related databases, such
as the World Health Organisation (WHO) database on nutrition and
physical activity; and
· strengthen
cooperation and the exchange of best practice.
8.6 The Commission is entrusted with the following
tasks:
· facilitating
the exchange of information and good practice, networking and
peer-learning;
· developing
a monitoring framework for health-enhancing physical activity
"based on existing forms of monitoring and data collection"
— activities may include capacity building and training
for national focal points, using the data collected to produce
EU statistics on physical activity, and working closely with WHO
to develop its database on nutrition and physical activity and
to produce country-specific overviews and analyses of trends in
physical activity; and
· producing
a report every three years on progress made in implementing the
Recommendation, and undertaking an evaluation after six years.
8.7 The draft Recommendation is based on Articles
165 and 168 TFEU and, consistent with the limitations on EU competence
set out in both Articles, is not legally binding. Whilst recognising
that Member States bear the primary responsibility for policies
in the field of health and sport, the Commission suggests that
EU action can "add significant value over and above what
Member States can achieve on their own" by strengthening
policy coordination, building capacity and helping to identify
the most effective policy interventions to promote health-enhancing
physical activity.[13]
The Commission emphasises that its monitoring framework is light
touch, based mainly on information already available to Member
States and utilised for other purposes, and builds on existing
international tools and strategies developed by the World Health
Organisation. The costs involved in establishing the monitoring
mechanism and supporting Member States through capacity building
activities would be covered by the Sport Chapter of the Erasmus
+ Programme for 2014-20.
8.8 The Commission highlights the importance of health-enhancing
physical activity as a tool in implementing the Europe 2020 Strategy,
noting:
"By helping to reduce the significant social
and economic costs of physical inactivity, and by addressing key
factors contributing to active and healthy ageing, a healthy workforce
and ultimately higher productivity, they will strengthen Member
States' ability to achieve the growth objectives set out in the
Europe 2020 Strategy. They will also address the determinants
of health inequities outlined in the Strategy as a prerequisite
for growth and competitiveness."[14]
The Government's view
8.9 The Parliamentary Under Secretary for Public
Health (Jane Ellison) welcomes the draft Recommendation and considers
that EU action is appropriate "to help reduce health inequalities
across the Union by disseminating good practice, benchmarking
policies and outcomes, and coordinating the collection and collation
of internationally comparable data".[15]
8.10 She notes that the areas of policy covered by
the draft Recommendation are devolved matters. She continues:
"The extent to which the policies of the
Devolved Administrations already align with this Recommendation
will differ. Similarly, commitment to the national strategy model
set out in the Recommendation will vary across the UK. For example
DH [Department of Health] Ministers have eschewed policies in
England that would mandate local areas to deliver HEPA [health-enhancing
physical activity], rather delegating responsibility for local
public health planning to Local Authorities. UK officials and
other national delegations have secured the inclusion of caveats
to the text of the Recommendation to the effect that the actions
taken by the Member States will depend upon national legislation
and practice.
"Variation in approach across the UK also
introduces complications for supporting the monitoring framework,
which is likely to require separate datasets for England, Scotland,
Northern Ireland and Wales. There may be a case for harmonisation
of these data across the UK, but this would create resource and
cost implications. It is also unlikely that we would be able to
provide data for all of the indicators for the whole of the UK.
Our approach will be to offer the best available data to support
the Monitoring Framework. We have established the principle that
the Monitoring Framework will build upon existing data and this
is reflected in the text of the Recommendation, indeed most of
the quantitative indicators are already supported by data available
and validated within the WHO database on nutrition and physical
activity."[16]
8.11 Although the UK has established policies for
physical activity, as well as arrangements for monitoring participation,
the Minister acknowledges that "coordination of policies
across sectors remains an issue".[17]
She expects that some modest administrative resource will need
to be found within the Department of Health and Public Health
England to collate UK data for the proposed monitoring framework
but highlights the difficulty of using this information to produce
European statistics on physical activity, adding:
"The variability in methodology and quality
of Member States' data on physical activity levels will offer
challenges in terms of an accurate assessment of HEPA levels across
the Union or comparison between Member States. We will urge the
Commission to continue with EU-wide measurement of physical activity
via the Eurobarometer survey, unless a satisfactory means of aggregating
data from the Member States can be developed."[18]
8.12 The Minister considers that the draft Recommendation
is most likely to add value "in those Member States not yet
committed to a strategic, cross-sectoral approach". She
continues:
"Such an approach, which should extend beyond
government to civil society, business and other strategic partners,
is essential to address the social and economic determinants of
physical inactivity and thereby tackle health inequalities."[19]
8.13 She underlines the importance of research and
evaluation to enable Member States to develop and implement evidence-based
policies, and suggests that obtaining more and better data on
physical activity levels will help to inform policy development
at EU level and within the World Health Organisation.
8.14 The Minister expects the draft Recommendation
to be considered by Coreper on 6 November with a view to formal
approval at the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council on
26 November.
Conclusion
8.15 We note the Government's support for the
draft Recommendation which goes with the grain of existing efforts
in the UK to promote health-enhancing physical activity across
a wide range of policy areas. When we considered the Commission's
2011 Communication, Developing the European Dimension in Sport,
we underlined the need for vigilance in ensuring that any future
action at EU level in the field of sport fully respects the principle
of subsidiarity and the limitations on EU competence set out in
Article 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
We are satisfied that the draft Recommendation is consistent
with the limited competence conferred on the European Union in
the field of sport and public health under Articles 165 and 168
TFEU and complies with the principle of subsidiarity. Accordingly,
we clear it from scrutiny.
9 See (28796) 11811/07 + ADDs 1-4; HC 41-xxxiii (2006-07),
chapter 3 (2 October 2007). Back
10
See Article 168(2) TFEU. Back
11
See (32464) 5597/11; HC 428-xx (2010-11), chapter 2 (16 March
2011) and HC 428-xxiv (2010-12), chapter 8 (27 April 2011). Back
12
See http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/educ/133870.pdf
Back
13
See p.7 of the Commission's explanatory memorandum accompanying
the draft Recommendation. Back
14
Ibid. Back
15
See para 13 of the Minister's Explanatory Memorandum. Back
16
See paras 14 and 15 of the Minister's Explanatory Memorandum. Back
17
See para 16 of the Minister's Explanatory Memorandum. Back
18
See para 18 of the Minister's Explanatory Memorandum. Back
19
See para 19 of the Minister's Explanatory Memorandum. Back
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