Mental Health and the European Union
The mental health of its citizens is a vital but under-valued resource within the EU. There is a close interrelationship between the EU’s policy objectives of prosperity, social inclusion and security and public health on the one hand, and mental health on the other.
A better understanding of mental health and of actions that can be taken to achieve improved mental health can be of considerable added value in addressing a range of social and economic priorities that are of direct concern to the EU and its Member States.
Mental health is affected by policies and practices across many different sectors, notably policy that influences early years and family life, education, employment, working conditions, migration, household income, housing and the built and natural environment.
Many existing EU policy priorities will themselves help to improve mental health and will in turn be enhanced by a stronger focus on mental health.
EU Mandate on Mental Health
EU Actions on Mental Health
The European Union has a long history of support for actions that have direct and indirect benfits for mental health and wellbeing.
Successive Public Health Programmes have co-funded projects explictly working in the fileds of mental health promotion and the prevention of mental disorders. Mental health has always been considered in the development of health monitoring systems.
Outside the field of public health, actions undertaken by the EU at every level, have a direct relevance on the mental health of European citizens. From the Lisbon Strategy, to enlargement, to the Sustainable Development Strategy, there is a mental health dimension to almost all of the actions undertaken by the Community.
In 2005, the Commission published a Green Paper "Improving the Mental Health of The Population: Towards A Strategy on Mental Health for the European Union."
As a follow-up to the Green Paper on Improving the Mental Health of the Population in 2005, the Commission indicated its intention to launch a Pact on Mental Health at a high-level conference in June 2008.
The purpose of the Pact is to highlight the relevance of mental health for public health, productivity, learning and social cohesion in the EU. It signals a willingness to work together on mental health, based on a common set of principles for action.
Implementation of the Pact will be taken forward through a series of thematic conferences in 2008 – 09 in order to develop further plans for action and a Commission Proposal for a Council Recommendation on Mental Health in 2009.