The Commission intends to shape the preparatory work around the key themes Peace, Freedom and Solidarity, identified in its Communication to the Convention .

Continue to discuss and work further on innovations for the benefit of patients within the Working Party on Public Health at Senior Level, while recognising that a discussion on the relationship between the current legal framework for medicinal products and timely patient access to medicinal products has already started in the Pharmaceutical Committee.

to continue coordinating their work in this area and to ensure linkage with any related work by other committees or expert working parties, such as the Economic Policy Committee;

- As regards the scope of future activities of the Task Force and structuring of its work

Question 9: What should the priorities be at European level and at international level?

1. RECALLING the new Transatlantic Agreement concluded on 3 December 1995, which provides for the creation of a Task Force to develop and implement an effective global early warning and response system for communicable diseases; 2. RECALLING the procedure agreed between the Council and the Commission at the Council meeting on 12 November 1996, on the information of Council bodies on the work of the Task Force; 3. WELCOMES the progress made in the exploratory work of the three working parties set up by the Task Force as established at the 3rd meeting of the Task Force on 22 and 23 October 1997, in Luxembourg, and expresses its suppor ...[+++]t for the continuation of that work; 4. EMPHASIZES how important it is for this initiative, which will help to strengthen international cooperation in the field, to be developed in a spirit of mutual collaboration and reciprocity; 5. EMPHASIZES also the importance, in this context, of appropriate coordination between the activities of the Task Force and those of the WHO in the field of transmissible diseases; 6. AGREES that the work of the Task Force should be closely coordinated with the systems of the Member States and with the future Community network for the epidemiological surveillance and control of communicable diseases; 7. PROPOSES to follow the Task Force's work closely with a view to the development of structured cooperation in a subsequent stage; 8. WISHES specific guidelines for the continuation of this work, together with a description of the resources required for its implementation, to be submitted to it in time for its next meeting on health matters.