CED Public Events
The Copenhagen Declaration on Dental Undergraduate Training
European dental professionals urge the EU to modernise
undergraduate training, and update clinical standards originally
established in 1978
March 2026 CED Policy Event at EU Parliament Brussels, Belgium
GENERAL HEALTH - ORAL HEALTH - Policy Event - SUGAR
Sugar is no longer just a “sweet treat”, it is the number one threat to Europe’s public health. As the EU population ages, uncontrolled sugar consumption is driving a hidden epidemic of tooth loss, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease, placing disproportionate burden on European health systems.
Brussels, 25 March 2026: The Council of European Dentists (CED) convened a high-level policy event at the European Parliament, hosted by MEP Dario Tamburrano (The Left), to address the critical regulatory gaps in sugar control policies across the European Union. The session exposed a bittertruth: the devastating impact of insufficient regulation and industry strategies is no longer just a matter of oral health, it is a systemic health crisis undermining general well-being.
The amount of sugar used by the food industry exceeds by more than threefold what is needed to meet WHO recommendations of free sugars account for less than 10% of daily energy intake.
From the Clinic to the Frontlines of Policy:
As sugar remains the first modifiable risk factor for dental caries and a primary driver of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), CED member speakers addressed a central question: How can the dental profession advance and decrease risk factors oral health through stronger regulatory frameworks?
Experts presented comprehensive overview of sugar consumption and policy practices across the EU, showcasing successful national advocacy models and oral health promotion campaigns from the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, Germany, and France. These initiatives demonstrated the leading role national dental associations play in curbing sugar intake and fostering public health literacy.
The non-governmental organisation Safe Food Advocacy Europe (SAFE) brought a consumer perspective to the debate, with examples of EU-funded projects for food literacy trainings in schools and the development of a smartphone BiteWatch app for increasing understanding and encouraging healthier food choices. European consumers are often left in the dark by complex labelling and aggressive industry marketing, making “healthy choices” nearly impossible.
Recommended steps:
The event served as a strategic platform for the advancement of CED’s key recommendations for
- Reducing excessive sugar intake through robust EU-wide policies
- Mitigating general adverse health effects by addressing common risk factors
- Integrating oral health into a holistic prevention model that supports general systemic well-being
The CED therefore urged EU decision-makers to move beyond industry self-regulation by:
- Introduce EU-wide trade barriers and tariffs on imported raw sugar
- Adopt an EU wide sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax, extending taxation to ultra-processed foods
- Implement a comprehensive sugar advertising directive, to eliminate aggressive marketing, sugar industry sponsorship, and digital advertising of high-sugar products targeting children and adolescents
- Require mandatory front-of-packet labelling
- Strengthen the EU’s nutrition policy and establish nutritional standards for public amenities, banning high-sugar products in schools, hospitals, and care homes
- Promote oral health promotion strategies, sugar and oral health literacy and drive interprofessional collaboration, integrating oral health into systemic health measures
One Health Event in Warsaw/Poland
EU HEALTH COMMUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IN A FIRM AND UNITED VOICE
GENERAL HEALTH - ORAL HEALTH
EU health community presents itself to the European Parliament in a firm and united voice
CED Public Event – Oral Health Inequalities
JOIN US FOR THIS YEAR’S CED EVENT: HEALTH INEQUALITIES – ORAL HEALTH FOR ALL HOSTED BY MEP NESSA CHILDERS (S&D, IE)
19 June 2018 from 10.00 to 12.00
European Parliament – Room A3H-1
Integrated Care – Don’t Forget about the Mouth
Economics vs Health? EU Proportionality Test for Health Professions
See you at the European Parliament, or watch the debate online.
CED public event on oral cancer
Oral Cancer: Dentists saving lives on behalf of the MEPs against Cancer (MAC) group in the European Parliament and on behalf of the Council of European Dentists (CED), on the 23rd of June, from 13.00-15.00 in the European Parliament, room ASP 7F387.
HEALTHY MOUTH, HEALTHY LIVING, HEALTHY AGEING: INVESTING IN PREVENTION IS THE MOST COST-EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO HEALTHCARE
Hosted by Cristian Silviu Buşoi, MEP, the event, organised in the context of the European Year of Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations
Rountable “High Quality Healthcare in Europe” under the patronage of MEP Othmar Karas, organised by the CED and the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME)
The roundtable “High Quality Healthcare in Europe”, organized jointly by the Council of European Dentists (CED) and the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME)
Oral health workshop organised by the CED at EU presidency conference on “Health Strategies in Europe”
On 12 July 2007, the CED organised an oral health workshop at the “Health strategies in Europe” conference in Lisbon.