The Health and Environment Alliance alongside the NGOs Chemsec, ClientEarth, Ecologistas en Acción and the European Environmental Bureau have provided analysis and recommendations as a response to the European Commission's call for written input in the context of the recent 'Reality Check Workshop' proposal for simplification of the CLP Regulation.
HEAL has given input to a consultation on priorities for the next EU long-term budget 2028-2034. The EU budget sets the framework for public spending on EU policies: Now is the time to set the EU on the path for ambitious investments into protection Europeans’ health against climate and environmental threats, especially pollution.
HEAL has sent a letter to the European Parliament’s Public Health Committee (SANT) ahead of the European Commission's presentation on its new Preparedness Union Strategy — “Reinforcing Europe’s resilience in a changing world” to the committee.
HEAL was honoured to host renowned epidemiologist Dr. Shanna Swan in Brussels in May 2025. She met with different stakeholders to discuss impact of pollution to reproductive health. To specifically assess sperm decline, Dr. Swan has examined hundreds of scientific studies and conducted her own, which all indicate that sperm count is declining globally. This is the case even when controlling for all variables such as genetic and lifestyle factors.
HEAL's Sandra Jen spoke at a recent webinar organised by the Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL), to discuss the health impacts of PFAS pollution and specifically their link with cancer.
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) held a ‘Reality Check Workshop’ on the potential simplification of chemicals legislation. The legislations on the table: Cosmetics Products Regulation and the Regulation on Classification, Labelling and Packaging of chemicals (CLP). The presented proposals are very alarming: allowing carcinogenic substances more readily in cosmetics and personal care products and deleting the planned CLP update to make labelling in products more legible for consumers and workers.
In June 2025 the Health and Environment Alliance is hosting an international conference in Warsaw, Poland, presenting the latest science on health and exposure to chemicals, and an outlook on necessary policy measures. The international conference will take place under the patronage of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU.
HEAL has published its key demands for health-protective upgrades to REACH.
The May 2025 vote on the European Parliament’s priorities for the next EU long-term budget (Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034) included many important health considerations, including on financing for measures to prevent climate change and biodiversity loss. Unfortunately, MEPs failed to include financing to address pollution and the related health impacts. The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) calls on earmarking at least 10% of the next EU budget for zero pollution objectives across various funding instruments.
HEAL and eight more Brussels-based organisations have sent a letter to EU Commission President von der Leyen and all EU Commissioners, urging them to uphold climate, nature and public health priorities in the next EU budget.
Ahead of the upcoming EP plenary vote on 7 May on the 2023 discharge: EU general budget – Commission, executive agencies and European Development Funds, HEAL has sent a letter to MEPs urging them to stand in support of a strong, independent and vibrant civil society.
HEAL has sent a letter to MEPs, regarding their upcoming vote on A revamped long-term budget for the Union in a changing world.
As the revision of EU chemicals legislation REACH is underway, the Health and Environment Alliance urges the European Commission to uphold its commitments on safer chemicals and ensure that ambitious health protections remain at the heart of the project.
Air pollution remains the largest environmental health risk for people in the EU, and more action to tackle it at the source is urgently needed, according to the 2025 edition of the Air Quality Status report by the European Environment Agency (EEA). As more health protective clean air standards will apply as of 2030, HEAL urges national and city authorities to step up on clean air measures, as progress has been too slow.
HEAL and several of members participated in the Second World Health Organization Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health in Colombia, March 2025, to showcase how health engagement for clean air can make a difference, and to underline the urgency to act.
As the policy deliberations on the next EU budget for 2028-2034, the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), have started, HEAL considers it crucial that health protection from climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution is at the core of spending and investment priorities.
The newly released European State of the Climate 2024 annual report (ESOTC), co-published by the European Union’s Copernicus Earth observation program and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), confirms what public health experts have long warned about: the health costs of climate change in Europe are rising fast, and so is the human toll.
On 23 April, the European Parliament's BUDG committee is set to vote on the BUDG INI report on A Revamped Long-term Budget for the Union in a changing world, the EU's next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). HEAL has sent a letter to members of the committee.
This week, two important committees in the European Parliament – ENVI (Environment Climate and Food Safety) and FEMM (Women’s Rights and Gender Equality) – adopted their opinion for an upcoming European Parliament resolution on A revamped long-term budget for the Union in a changing world.
