Council of European Dentists Activity information

CED President

European patients Forum (EPF)

The CED President invited the President of EPF to attend the CED General meeting in Budapest, 27 and 28 May 2011, and give a short presentation of EPF policy objectives and activities.

gerodontology

The CED President replied to the  Austrian Dental Society, the Swiss Society for Dentistry for Handicapped and Elderly Persons, the German Society for Gerodontology, the European College of Gerodontology and the Department of Health in England, informing them that, at the November 2010 General Meeting, CED Members unanimously decided to recommend to the European Commission to include  gerodontology in the list of study subjects for dental practitioners (Annex V.3/5.3.1 of the Directive 2005/36/EC on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications). These entities had requested the CED's support in including gerodontology in the Directive 2005/36/EC which is currently under review by the European Commission.

CED Board

Joint Board meeting

On 14 February 2011, the CED Board met for an extraordinary joint meeting with former Board members in Hamburg. Current and former Board members exchanged views on the CED's political goals and strategy as well as on the functioning of the Board and of the CED's working bodies.

New Board liaisons

Following the changes in the CED Board composition resulting from the November 2010 Board elections some of the CED's Working Groups were assigned new Board liaisons:

• - WG Amalgam: Dr. Susie Sanderson;
• - WG Education and Professional Qualifications: Dr. Peter Engel and Dr. Marco Landi;
• - WG Medical Devices: Dr. Roland L'Herron;
• - WG Patient Safety: Dr. Nikolai Sharkov;
• - WG Oral Health: Dr. Francisco Rodriguez Lozano and Dr. Pirkko Grönroos.

These decisions were taken at the joint Board meeting on 14 February 2011.

CED Board task forceS (BTF)

BTF Internal market

On 7 January 2011, BTF IM met on-line to discuss the CED's response to the public consultation to revise the Data Protection Directive. The response, agreed by the BTF, was sent to the Commission on 13 January 2011.

BTF IM is planning to meet in Brussels before the May 2011 CED General Meeting to discuss e-health, impact of the economic crisis on European dentistry, EU health workforce issues, the ESCO project and the Single Market Act.

CED working groups (WG)

WG Infection Control

As of February 2011, WG IC has new members:

• - Dr. Susanne Andersen (Danish Dental Association);
• - Dr. Zane Bendika (Latvian Dental Association);
• - Dr. Rodos Irodotou (Cyprus Dental Association) and
• - Dr. Anna Spialek (Polish Chamber of Physicians and Dentists).

WG Tooth whitening

On 23 November 2010, the CED informed the Commission that during the November General Meeting a majority of CED Member Associations expressed their support for the possible new Commission's proposal to regulate tooth whitening products containing H202 under the Cosmetic Products Directive. The Commission is currently conducting an inter-service consultation in connection to the new proposal. If an agreement is reached among the different Commission directorates, the proposal will be presented to the Member States in the near future.

WG education
& professional qualifications

On 23 November 2010, Jörg Krainhöfner on behalf of the CED President and Nina Bernot and Sara Roda from the CED Brussels Office attended the second meeting of the seven sectoral professions (dental practitioners, pharmacists, veterinarians, architects, nurses, midwives and doctors) with Mr. Jurgen Tiedje from the European Commission's DG Internal Market to discuss specific topics of the evaluation process of the Directive 2005/36/EC. The sectoral professions met in advance of the meeting to prepare a common strategy. As a follow-up action to the meeting and to reinforce the CED's position, the Brussels Office prepared written comments on the issues discussed and sent them to the Commission on 6 December 2010.

On 1 February 2011, the CED will meet bilaterally with Mr. Tiedje to further discuss two issues connected to the Directive 2005/36/EC: third country diplomas and language requirements.

WG EPQ is preparing a joint statement on the Bologna process to reinforce the CED's position against the splitting of the basic dental training into Bachelor and Master degrees. The goal is to gather the support of the seven sectoral professions and send the statement to the Commission. A meeting with the seven sectoral professions will take place on 4 February 2011 to discuss this issue.

As of February 2011, WG EPQ has two new members:

- Dr. Alfonso Villa Vígil (Spanish Dental Association) and

- Dr. Doniphan Hammer (CNSD - France).

WG amalgam

On 24 November 2010, the CED informed the European Commission (DG SANCO and DG Environment) on the new CED Resolution on dental amalgam adopted unanimously by CED Members on 19 November 2010. By mid-2011, DG Environment will launch a call for tenders to undertake, on behalf of the European Commission, a full lifecycle assessment on the use of mercury in dental amalgam. The CED will follow the process and react as necessary.

Ms. Cristiana Muscardini, Member of the European Parliament (PPE), submitted a written question to the European Commission on the use of dental amalgam. The response by the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy Dalli quoted the CED's position and reaffirmed the Commission's agreement with the European dentists on this important issue.  

WG Oral Health

On 8 December 2010, WG OH met on-line to discuss and outline the CED's response to the public consultation on the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive. The response, agreed by the WG and approved by the CED Board, was sent to the Commission on 17 December 2010.

During its on-line meeting, WG OR elected a new Chair, Dr. Paula Vassalo from the Dental Association of Malta and planned its next meeting to take place on 21 February 2011 in Brussels.

As of February 2011, WG OH has a new member, Dr. Pierre-Olivier Donnat (CNSD - France).

WG medical devices

On 30 November 2010, Head of Brussels Office Nina Bernot attended on behalf of the CED WG Medical Devices a meeting of the European Commission-led Medical Devices Expert Group (MDEG). Several issues of interest were discussed, in particular the e-labelling Directive (adoption delayed to mid-2011) and the recast of the Medical Devices Directives (proposal to be presented in early 2012).

On 17 January 2011, WG member Dr. Stefaan Hanson and Nina Bernot participated in the meeting of the UDI Ad Hoc Working Group in Brussels. The goal of the Ad Hoc Working Group is to prepare a European Unique Device Identification (UDI) system, requiring each medical device to carry an UDI. Another meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group will be scheduled in February or March 2011 to discuss among other issues also the implications of a possible European UDI system for medical practitioners in the European Union.

The CED was invited to the high level conference on Innovation in Medical Technology to be held on 22 March 2011 in Brussels. The morning session will bring together top-level decision makers from the European Commission, the European Parliament, national governments and stakeholders in order to discuss the role of innovation in the medical device sector as input into future EU research and innovation policies. The afternoon session will explore the medical devices regulatory framework, the strengthening of the safety elements and patients' access to innovative technologies and services. The conclusions from the conference will be used to prepare the 2012 proposal to revise the EU medical devices legislation. The CED will be represented in the conference by Dr. Stefaan Hanson and Nina Bernot.

WG PATIENT SAFETY

As of February 2011, WG Patient Safety has a new member, Dr. Serge Deschaux (CNSD - France).

Comments, questions and contributions please contact: mailto:nina.bernot@eudental.eu