Obesity in Europe: The strategy of the European union from a public health law perspective

European Journal of Health Law

Volumn 19, Issue 1, 2012, Pages 69-86

  Faeh, Andrea ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN   (Denmark)

Author keywords

consumer protection; European health law; food law; obesity; single market

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; EUROPEAN UNION; HEALTH CARE POLICY; HUMAN; LAW; LEGAL ASPECT; OBESITY; PUBLIC HEALTH;

EUROPEAN UNION; HEALTH POLICY; HUMANS; LEGISLATION, FOOD; OBESITY; PUBLIC HEALTH;

EID: 84856463755     PISSN: 09290273     EISSN: 15718093     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/157180912X615149     Document Type: Article

References (43)

1. This work has been carried out as a part of the research program of the UNIK: Food, Fitness & Pharma for Health and Disease (see www.foodfitnesspharma.ku.dk). The UNIK project is supported by the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. For the valuable comments to this article I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Mette Hartlev.
2. See European Commission White Paper 'Strategy for Europe on nutrition, overweight and obesity related health issues', COM(2007) 279 final. Retrieved 3 January 2011: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/ LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2007: 0279:FIN:EN:PDF.
3. A person is defined as obese if they have a BMI (Body Mass Index) equal to or above 30. The BMI is calculated as follows: (weight in kg)/(height in m)2.
4. Further information on the global impact of the problem of overweight and obesity is given on the WHO website; retrieved 3 January 2011: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/ index.html. In the OECD countries the latest statistical data show that on average 57 % of the male population and 46 % of the female population are overweight and 16 % of the male population and 17 % of the female population are obese, see OECD Health Data 2010 (or see S. Franco, Obesity and the Economics of Prevention: Fit not Fat, (OECD, 2010), p. 60; http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932315621 retrieved 3 January 2011).
5. Directive 2003/33/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products (OJ L 152, 20.6.2003, p. 16). Germany brought an action for annulment before the ECJ (Case C-380/03 Germany v. European Parliament and Council [2006] ECR I-11573), but the claim was rejected by the Court.
6. Directive 2001/37/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2001 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco products (OJ L 194, 18.7.2001, p. 26); tobacco companies claimed this Directive was invalid, but this was rejected by the ECJ even though the Directive entails elements of health promotion; see ECJ, Case C-491/01 British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco [2000] ECR I-11453.
7. ECJ, Case C-237/07 Janecek v. Freistaat Bayern [2008] ECR I-6221.
8. ECJ, Case C-131/88 Commission v. Germany [1991] ECR I-825.
9. ECJ, Case C-58/89 Commission v. Germany [ECR I-4983.
10. Art. 168(1) TFEU.
11. W. Berg, "Kommentar zu Art. 152 EGV", in: J. Schwarze, EU-Kommentar, (Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2007), para. 32 et seq.
12. J. Stuyck, "European Consumer Law after the Treaty of Amsterdam: Consumer Policy in or beyond the Internal Market?", Common Market Law Review 37 (2000), p. 387.
13. ECJ, Case C-192/94 Corte Inglés [1996] ECR, I-1281, para. 19; see e.g. W. Berg, "Kommentar zu Art. 153 EGV", in: H. von den Groeben and J. Schwarze (eds.), Vertrag über die Europäische Union und Vertrag zur Gründung der Europäischen Gemeinschaft: Kommentar, Bd. 3, Art. 98-188 EGV (Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2003), para. 15.
14. ECJ, Case 45/86 Commission v. Council [1987] ECR 1493, para. 11;
15. ECJand Case C-376/98 Germany v. European Parliament and Council [2000] ECR I-8419, para. 95.
16. ECJ, Case C-491/01 British American Tobacco [2002] ECR I-11453, paras. 61 et seq. and 75; ECJ, Case C-434/02 Arnold André [2004] ECR I-11825, para. 32; ECJ, Case C-154/04 Alliance for Natural Health and others [2005] ECR I-6451, para. 30; and ECJ, Case C-380/03 Germany v. European Parliament and Council [2006] ECR I-11573, para. 39.
17. To the problem of the evidence gap in food policy making see B. Buchner, "Nutrition, Obesity and EU Health Policy (Editorial)", EJHL 18(1)(2011), pp. 1-8.
18. For a more detailed discussion of vertical harmonisation measures, see D. Holland and H. Pope, EU Food Law and Policy (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2004), p. 99 et seq. (Chapter 11).
19. See A. Alemanno, Trade in Food: Regulatory and Judicial Approaches in the EC and the WTO (London: Cameron May 2007), p. 51; B. van der Meulen and M. van der Velde, European Food Law Handbook (Wageningen: Wageningen Academic Publishers, 2008), p. 230 et seq.
20. ECJ, Case 120/78 Rewe v. Bundesmonopolverwaltung für Branntwein, [1979] ECR 649.
21. H. Unberath and A. Johnston, "The double-headed approach of the ECJ concerning consumer protection", CMLRev. 44(5)(2007), p. 1237.
22. Several directives regulate the issue of safety at a practical level, e.g.: Directive 1989/109/EEC (materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs); Regulation (EEC) No 315/1993 (procedures for contaminants in food); Directive 2001/22/EC (official control of levels of lead, cadmium, mercury and 3-MCPD in foodstuffs); Directive 1993/99/EEC (official control of foodstuffs); and Directive 1999/2/EC (food and food ingredients treated with ionising radiation). The Regulation does not provide a definition of 'safety', it simply states that food must not be unsafe; on this see supra note 20, Van der Meulen and Van der Velde, p. 261.
23. W. Zipfel and K.-D. Rathke, "Kommentar zu Art. 14 (Anforderungen an die Lebensmittelsicherheit) Verordnung (EG) Nr. 178/2002", in: W. Zipfel and K.-D. Rathke (eds.), Lebensmittelrecht (München: C.H. Beck, 2004), para. 56 et seq.
24. M. Hagenmeyer and T. Teufer, "C.IV. Lebensmittelrecht", in: M.A. Dauses (ed.), Handbuch des EUWirtschaftsrechts (München: C.H. Beck, 2006), para. 128.
25. However, it is very difficult to prove a causal link between the food content (ingredients) and the harm (i.e. obesity and its health effects) as the case law in the US demonstrates, see e.g. Comm. on Children's Television Inc. v. General Foods Corp., (sugar intake through breakfast cereals by children); and Pelman v. McDonald's Corp. No 02 Civ. 7821 (RWS), 2003 (marketing techniques and failure to disclose certain nutritional information).
26. S. Franco, Obesity and the Economics of Prevention: Fit not Fat, (OECD, 2010), p. 149 et seq.
27. Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the provision of food information to consumers (COM(2008) 40 final).
28. Art. 44 COM(2008) 40 final; see also C. MacMaoláin, "Waiter! There's a beetle in my soup. Yes Sir, that's E120: Disparities between actual individual behaviour and regulating food labelling for the average consumer in EU law", CMLRev. 45(4)(2008), p. 1164.
29. With respect to additives, see supra note 51, MacMaoláin, "Waiter! There's a beetle in my soup", p. 1159.
30. Ibid.; equally in disagreement with the current approach of the EU, see: A. Garde, "Food Advertising and Obesity Prevention: What Role for the European Union?", Journal of Consumer Policy 31(1)(2008), p. 30 et seq.
31. Further elaboration of the legal conditions for the introduction of such a tax in the Member States will not be given here; for an assessment of the economic impact of a 'fat tax', see: A. Leicester and F. Windmeijer, "The 'fat tax': economic incentives to reduce obesity", Institute for Fiscal Studies, Briefing Note No 49 (2004), retrieved 3 January 2010 at: http://eprints.ucl.ac.uk/14931/1/14931.pdf.
32. Bekendtgørelse om indhold af transfedtsyrer i olier og fedtstoffer m.v. Nr. 160 af 11/03/2003 (Transfedtsyrebekendtgørelse) senere ændringer til forskriften Bekendtgørelse Nr. 1477 af 14/12/2006 og Bekendtgørelse Nr. 312 af 26/033/2010; English version available at http://www.foedevarestyrelsen .dk/NR/rdonlyres/B0C9E507-D1D0-4868-8F3C- 126D6D2E495F/0/Trans-fatty-acid.DOC. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
33. S. Stender, J. Dyerberg and A. Astrup, "Consumer protection through a legislative ban on industrially produced trans fatty acids in foods in Denmark", Scandinavian Journal of Food an Nutrition 50(4) (2006), p. 158.
34. Information on trans fatty acids from the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries: http:// www.uk.foedevarestyrelsen.dk/Food-Safety/ Trans+fatty+acids/forside.htm. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
35. M.B. Katan, "Regulation of trans fats: The gap, the Polder, and McDonald's French fries", Atherosclerosis Supplements 7 (2006), p. 65.
36. Scientific Opinion on Dietary Reference Values for fats, including saturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids, and cholesterol, EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition, and Allergies (NDA), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Parma, Italy, EFSA Journal 2010; 8(3):1461, p. 56 (available at: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/ scdocs/doc/1461. pdf. Retrieved 3 January 2010).
37. This is an initiative of the DG Education and Culture within EU's "Lifelong Learning Programme" that is directed at young schoolchildren and educational staff to get a better understanding of European culture, languages and values, http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-programme/ doc84- en.htm (retrieved 21 February 2011).
38. T. Pfeiffer, "Kommentar zu Art. 153 EGV", in: E. Grabitz and M. Hilf (eds.), Das Recht der Europäischen Union (München: C.H. Beck, 2003), para. 11.
39. ECJ, Case C-210/96 Gut Springenheide und Tusky [1998] ECR I-4657, para. 31.
40. U. Becker, "Kommentar zu Art. 28 EGV", in: J. Schwarze (ed.), EU-Kommentar, (Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2009), para. 108 et seq. The list of the mandatory requirements is unwritten and non- exhaustive; see ECJ case law: ECJ, Case C-238/89 Pall v. Dahlhausen [1990] ECR I-4872, para. 20 (unfair commercial practice); ECJ, Case 120/78 Rewe v. Bundesmonopolverwaltung für Branntwein [1979] ECR 649, para. 8 (consumer protection); and ECJ, Case C-2/90 Commission v. Belgium [1992] ECR I-4431, para. 22 et seq. (environmental protection) etc.
41. This definition stems from the WHO "A Declaration on the Promotion of Patients Rights in Europe", March 1994; The definition is: 'User(s) of health care services, whether healthy or sick'. For a definition that does not include healthy individuals, see: G.J. Annas, The Rights of Patients: The authoriative ACLU guide to patient rights (Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 2004), p. 3 et seq.
42. The WHO Declaration defines health care as 'medical, nursing or allied services dispensed by health care providers and health care establishments', which clearly does not include nutritional products unless they are part of a health care service such as a special diet. 84) Art. 168(7) TFEU.
43. T.K. Hervey and J.V. McHale, Health Law and the European Union (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 393 et seq.