EU policy seeks to protect Europeans from a wide range of serious health threats that have impacts across national borders and so may be more effectively tackled by Europe-wide cooperation than by individual EU governments acting alone.
These threats can come from agents that cause communicable diseases
or other biological or chemical agents, or be environmental, for example caused by climate change.
EU action is largely about promoting coordination between member governments, for example through guidelines or sharing best practice.
In collaboration with governments, the EU has established a number of mechanisms for a coordinated, Europe-wide response in the following areas:
