Sorry, the publication can not be displayed.

Liver disease A liver for life riting in the last edition of the Parliament Magazine, Nadine Piorkowsky, president of the European liver patients association (ELPA) drew attention to the extremely worrying trend which the European association for the study of the liver (EASL), witnesses every day – the devastating effects of hepatitis B and C on our patients. These diseases kill “silently” because for years, often decades, patients do not feel the symptoms of their illness and remain undiagnosed. In fact, as a rule, patients come to us only when the obvious manifestations of liver disease occur and an irreversible stage of liver damage has already been reached. If diagnosed in time, however, viral hepatitis patients can lead a perfectly normal and healthy life. This is why we support ELPA’s call for a council recommendation on hepatitis screening as a way to ensure that this disease is diagnosed and treated at an early stage. We also call on the World Health Organisation (WHO) to make sure that it continues to put hepatitis on the global political agenda. It was unfortunate that the planned discussion on viral hepatitis at the 62nd annual meeting was postponed, but we hope that the WHO will not lose sight of the critical need to pursue this issue. Tackling viral hepatitis is, however, only one step towards winning the fight against liver disease. Viral hepatitis is just one of several diseases which affect the liver. The majority of liver diseases are caused by the conjunction of multiple risk factors that have increased to epidemic proportions in recent decades. These include excess weight, alcohol consumption and aging – together they act to damage the liver progressively, but relentlessly. Crucially, each of these risk factors need not be pronounced to affect the liver: individuals face a risk of developing liver disease, for example, even when they are simply over weight (not necessarily obese) or when drinking moderately but regularly. This means that liver disease could affect any of us. Chronic liver disease is now considered the EU’s fifth biggest killer, accounting for at least one in six deaths in Europe today. Current estimates suggest that about 200 million European adults are overweight or obese and thus at serious risk of liver disease. Furthermore, harmful alcohol drinking patterns account W The EU must take a leading role in the fight against liver disease, argues Dominique-Charles Valla “Despite alarming trends, liver disease remains widely neglected in Europe” Professor Dominique-Charles Valla is EU policy counsellor at the European association for the study of the liver (EASL) for more than 195,000 deaths every year, many of which are related to liver disease. Yet despite these alarming trends, liver disease remains widely neglected in Europe. Worse still, not only are policy makers unaware of the impact of the disease but there is frequently a false perception that liver disease is solely associated with drug and alcohol abuse – bringing with it stigma, misunderstanding and often an unwillingness to act. It is for these reasons that EASL calls on the EU to take a leading role in the fight against liver disease. By increasing EU research funding for liver disease, urging the European centre for disease prevention and control to improve data collection, encouraging the implementation of screening measures and facilitating the exchange of best practice in the care and treatment of liver disease at national level, we may begin to tackle this disease across Europe. The liver is for life. When dealing with this complex organ and its pathologies, EU public health and research policy must begin to look at the bigger picture. This requires the development and implementation of an all encompassing framework for awareness raising, screening, data collection, research, monitoring, prevention, care and treatment aimed at tackling the wide ranging diseases of the liver. 12 PARLIAMENT MAGAZINE 25 May 2009 Issue 289 25 May 2009 “We rely heavily on what Farmers provide – not only food and fibres, but also their stewardship of our countryside” The fat of the land Mariann Fischer Boel on climate change, energy efficiency and why the EU must do more to protect future food supplies European elections Gra Tuesday 3 November 2009 The Stanhope, Brussels Nominations are now open: www.theparliament.com/m Agriculture Culture and Education Development Economic and Monetary Affairs Employment and Social Affairs Energy Environment Food Safety Health Internal Market and Consumer Affairs Justice and Civil Lib UPTURN Hel p rem ing pe ople ain pro vidi compe com titiv ng pan effi tr c ies e Visi ient IT aining by t ww so w.o lution nm ywa s. yeu .com DOWNTURN Issue 289 25 May 2009 newsanalysis 6 Every seat matters Martyn Bond says parliament’s larger political groups will continue to manage the newly elected assembly, much as they have done in the past specialREPORT Education 21 Mobilising potential A strong European higher education area will benefit catherinestihler Editorial team Managing editor Brian Johnson Martin Banks Martha Moss Francesca Ross Louise Tait International Press Centre Boulevard Charlemagne 1 Box 2 Brussels 1041 Tel +32 (0)2 285 0828 newsdesk@theparliament. www.theparliament.com Editorial board Editor Catherine Stihler MEP E European Elections Every seat matters Martyn Bond says parliament’s larger political groups will continue to manage the newly elected assembly, much as they have done in the past otes matter, and numbers mean a lot. The new parliament that reassembles in Strasbourg in July will have only 736 MEPs i newsanalysis and global warming. Bigger parties have mainstreamed their environmental concerns and undercut their specific appeal. When it comes to confirming the president of the commission, the new parliament looks likely to endorse Barroso, the candidate of the centre right, at least on a tempor CODICE (acronym of “COmputationally driven Design of Innovative CEmentitious materials”) is an ambitious research project that brings producers and suppliers of cement-based materials together with universities and research institutes for the development of new and radically improved computational t newsanalysis Word on the street Graham Watson has been hitting the streets in his busiest and greenest campaign yet L ife on the British campaign trail is very different from life in Brussels and Strasbourg. In the UK the candidate faces lots of door knocking, leaflet delivering and baby-kissing. European Elections Get the message? MEP candidates face a tough task getting their message across to voters, says Neil Corlett t’s not a war of course, but the battle lines are clearly drawn and people are angry. The street scenes in the UK may have more to do with a week of revelations about the m newsanalysis People first t election time politics are brought back closest to the people. Most citizens are struggling to understand what the EU is doing for them. However this election year cancer patients, their family and their friends have no problem understanding why Europe is important for t Liver disease A liver for life riting in the last edition of the Parliament Magazine, Nadine Piorkowsky, president of the European liver patients association (ELPA) drew attention to the extremely worrying trend which the European association for the study of the liver (EASL), witnesses every day – BRINGING PROSPERITY AND PEACE OF MIND TO EU CITIZENS Six Aviva Public Policy Aims for the New European Parliament At Aviva we remain true to delivering our core purpose of bringing prosperity and peace of mind to our 50 million customers around the world. When the new European Parliament sits for t coverstory coverstory The fat of the land n recent months, the media has rightly been overflowing with analysis of the current economic crisis, and asking how we could have overlooked the warning signs of a deteriorating financial climate. Now, as we search for solutions, we must not take our eye o Agriculture “The sheer unpredictability of the weather will be a heavy burden for farmers to bear” swim. We rely heavily on what they provide – not only food and fibres, but also their stewardship of our countryside. Therefore, we must use policy to support their efforts. The EU reinforced this sup coverstory Expensive electronics Neil Parish believes the introduction of electronic sheep identification tags could be a costly mistake T he battle to delay the introduction of electronic identification of sheep is over. From 1 January next year, all sheep need to be fitted with an electronic ta Med-Vet-Net – the EU Network for the prevention and control of zoonoses M ed-Vet-Net (MVN) is the European Network of Excellence (NoE) for the prevention and control of zoonoses funded by the EU from 1 September 2004 to 31 August 2009. The overall aims have been to improve the understanding, prevent coverstory A delicate balance Finding a responsible balance between environmental legislation and productivity will only get harder as demand increases, argues Thomas Hind T he remarkable events of the global financial crisis and subsequent economic downturn cast a new light on the agricultural s Agriculture Rural investment In tough economic times, the EU must ensure its rural citizens are provided with the necessary funds for development, argues Petya Stavreva hen European leaders met in Brussels in December 2008 they agreed on a recovery plan for the European economy in response to the w specialreport Mobilising potential A strong European higher education area will benefit students and society alike, argues Ján Figel’ T he Bologna process aims to create a European higher education area by 2010, in which students can choose from a wide range of high quality courses and profit fro Education | Dutch minister for education, culture and science Planning for the future fter having worked for 25 years in education and science, my life took on a new direction two years ago. From professor of molecular genetics I became education, culture and science minister. I draw on this backgr broaden your broaden your horizons horizons explore... explore... studies and research at the University of Cyprus Studies and Teaching •28 Undergraduate Programmes •43 Master Programmes •33 areas for PhD research •Programmes offered in Greek and English •ECTS credits granted and DS awarded •Diploma IPeuropAware: IP Awareness and Enforcement Project The IPeuropAware project brings together two existing Europe-wide initiatives under one umbrella: A web portal created by the National Patent Offices to provide information on their services for the end user (http://www.innovaccess and IPR-Helpdesk specialreport To 2020 and beyond t the end of April, 46 ministers of education from across Europe gathered in Belgium to assess progress with the Bologna process reforms and, importantly, to agree how to take European higher education cooperation forward in the next decade. The ambitious reforms, o education | European Students’ Union Teaching EU a lesson The rejuvenated Bologna process can teach EU ministers a thing or two about achieving their objectives, argues Ligia Deca ere an opinion poll conducted across the EU, it would almost certainly conclude that higher education is considered imp specialreport Students of society Professional higher education providers make a valuable contribution to society, say Stefan Delplace and Adina Timofei s an international association that gives primary emphasis to professional higher education, we aim to support institutions which affirm themselve PAge, an ERC Starting Grant 2007, focused on ageing research geing is often associated with disability and chronic diseases, so its understanding will lead in improvement of health and quality of life. As a biological process is complex and stochastic, but many genes and environmental pathways have insideeu A healthy appetite The EU should do more to promote the Mediterranean diet in Europe, argues Stavros Arnaoutakis T he Mediterranean or Cretan diet is not only a matter of eating tasty and healthy food, it is also a lifestyle (and one of a kind) where culture and tradition play a key role NatForce Reinforcing Scientific and Technological Potential of the Natural Products Laboratory – University of Athens NATIONAL KAPODISTRIAN UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS estrogen/anti-estrogen, CNS) based on Molecular Modeling; SAR and optimization of lead compounds. • • Development of CDK’s / GSK3 inhib insideeu In poll position Could the Greek opposition leader become the first woman to receive a nomination for the commission presidency? Jon Worth believes so H ow should the outcome of the European parliament elections and the selection of the new European commission be linked? With the 2009 pa Greece | EU politics Jon Worth is a website designer, professional trainer and blogger based in Brussels and London sion, but we do not, and we will not before the elections.” One problem for the Socialists has been the lack of a viable candidate around whom opposition to Barroso could coalesce. R Municipality of Amaroussion T he Municipality of Amaroussion, in recognition of the urgent need for sustainable development and the crucial role played by local authorities in its achievement, has made the energy sector one of its main priorities. Against this background, the Municipal Developmen Greece | Maritime policy Coast to coast any EU member states are already familiar with the consequences of the global fiscal crisis, be it with rising prices or the falling value of our homes. But for some countries, it could be argued that the full impact is yet to be felt. One such country is Gre COCAE, an FP7 funded research project, develops technologies for nuclear radiation detection and its target outcome is a portable instrument able to answer where (within a range of some meters) and of what kind a radioactive source is. The accurate answer to these questions is either time consuming MICRO-SCALE FLOWS IN FIBROUS MEDIA Funded by the EU FP7-PEOPLE Program at the University of Thessaly, Greece ibrous media are encountered in many economically and environmentally significant technologies, such as wood and paper processing, biotechnology, separations and materials processing. Fibrous insideeu A watchful eye EU institutions must conform to the highest possible standards of administration, says Nikiforos Diamandouros T he mandate of the European ombudsman is to investigate complaints about maladministration in the EU’s institutions and bodies, except the community courts in the Greece | European ombudsman “Following my investigations, citizens who have been the victims of late payments received compensation, discriminatory practices were abolished, and the quality of information provided to citizens was improved” Nikiforos Diamandouros is the European ombudsman of react insideeu The solar century Member states must do more to exploit the potential of solar thermal, argues Mechtild Rothe urope’s demand for energy is increasing within an environment of high and unstable energy prices. Emissions of greenhouse gases are rising. Reserves of fossil fuels like oil and ga energy | Solar Thermal Reaching for renewables The renewable energy directive sets achievable targets for 2020, says Christine Lins n March 2007, the heads of states and governments of the 27 EU member states adopted a binding target of 20 per cent renewable energy from final energy consumption by IF THIS MAKES YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE, IMAGINE HOW IT MAKES HER FEEL Energy | Solar thermal The big boom The solar thermal market is booming despite the economic downturn, says Olivier Drüke T Olivier Drüke is president of the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation he financial and economic crisis has affected a wide range of industries. In the current volatil European Commission European Commission Enterprise and Industry Enterprise and Industry