A HIA to assess the health impacts of the European Employment Strategy Article 152 of the Treaty of Amsterdam (EC, 1999) made explicit the commitment of the European Union (EU) to ensure that human health is protected in the definition and implementation of all Community policies and activities. 

Also, the proposal for a decision by the European Parliament and Council in the field of public health (Commission of the European Communities, 2002a) included objectives to ‘support the development of health impact assessment methodologies and other relevant tools’ (Commission of the European Communities, 2002a, objective 4.2) and to ‘support pilot projects on the health impact of Community policies and actions’ (Commission of the European Communities, 2002a, objective 4.3). 

A call for proposals by the Health and Consumer Protection DG in (2001/c 147/06) sought to develop work on Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in the EU. IMPACT (The International Health Impact Assessment Consortium) successfully co-ordinated a bid with partners from Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands to develop and test a HIA methodology for use by the European Community and its institutions in EUpolicy development.