L 354/70 Official Journal of the European Union 31.12.2008 REGULATION (EC) No 1338/2008 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 16 December 2008 on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EURO- PEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 285(1) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (?), Whereas: (1) Decision No 1786/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2002 adopting a pro- gramme of Community action in the field of public health (2003-2008) (3), stated that the statistical element of the information system on public health was to be developed in collaboration with Member States using, as necessary, the Community Statistical Programme to promote synergy and avoid duplication. Decision No 1350/2007 [EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 establishing a second programme of Community action in the field of health (2008-2013) (4) indicated that its objective of generating and disseminating health infor- mation and knowledge would be pursued by actions to develop further a sustainable health monitoring system with mechanisms for collection of comparable data and information, with appropriate indicators, and to develop, with the Community Statistical Programme, the statistical element of this system. 2)  Community information on public health has been devel- oped systematically through the Community public health (1) OJ C 44, 16.2.2008, p. 103. (3 Opinion of the European Parliament of 13 November 2007 (OJ C282E, 6.11.2008, p. 109), Council Common Position of 2 Octo- ber 2008 (O] C 280 E, 4.11.2008, p. 1) and Position of the European Parliament of 19 November 2008 (not yet published in the Official Journal). () OJL 271, 9.10.2002, p. 1. (% OJL 301, 20.11.2007, p. 3. programmes. Building on this work, a list of European Community Health Indicators (ECHI) has now emerged providing an overview of health status, determinants of health and health systems. In order to make available the minimum statistical data set needed for the calculation of ECHI, Community statistics on public health should be consistent, when relevant and possible, with the develop- ments and achievements resulting from Community action in the field of public health. (3)  Council Resolution of 3 June 2002 on a new Community strategy on health and safety at work (2002-2006) (°) called on the Commission and the Member States to step up work in hand on harmonisation of statistics on acci- dents at work and occupational illnesses, so as to have available comparable data from which to make an objec- tive assessment of the impact and effectiveness of the mea- sures taken under the new Community strategy, as well as emphasised, in a specific section, the need to take into account the increase in the proportion of women on the labour market and to respond to their specific needs in relation to policies on health and safety at work. In addi- tion, in its Resolution of 25 June 2007 on a new Commu- nity strategy on health and safety at work (2007-2012) (¢) the Council called on the Commission to cooperate with the legislative authorities in establishing an appropriate European statistical system in the area of occupational safety and health, which takes account of the different national systems and avoids imposing additional adminis- trative burdens. Finally, in its Recommendation of 19 Sep- tember 2003 concerning the European schedule of occupational diseases (7), the Commission recommended that the Member States progressively make their statistics on occupational diseases compatible with the European schedule, in accordance with the work being done on the system of harmonising European statistics on occupational diseases. (4)  TheBarcelona European Council of 15 and 16 March 2002 recognised three guiding principles for the reform of health care systems: accessibility for all, high-quality care and long-term financial sustainability. The Commission Com- munication of 20 April 2004 entitled ‘Modernising social () O] C 161, 5.7.2002, p. 1. (6) OJ C 145, 30.6.2007, p. 1. () OJ L 238, 25.9.2003, p. 28.