Smoking, alcohol-fuelled road deaths and behavioural health problems are the biggest health threats that face EU citizens, the EU Director General for Health and Consumer Protection, Dr Robert Madelin, has said.
Speaking ahead of the EU conference on physical activity in the workplace, Dr Madelin said: "The thing that is still killing most people who die prematurely in Europe is tobacco. It kills more than half a million people in Europe every year.
"Secondly, road deaths associated with alcohol abuse are a problem and thirdly, behavioural lifestyle problems are now a major issue. These include people not taking enough exercise and eating too much of the wrong things. These are three of the major issues that need to be tackled in Europe," Dr Madelin said.
He commended Ireland's approach to addressing smoking.
"With regard to smoking, Ireland has shown the way by introducing the smoking ban. Creating smoke-free public places is a good start on the way to finding a point where it is easier for people not to smoke than it is for them to smoke."
On obesity, Dr Madelin said Europe is now doing more than ever to promote healthy eating and physical activity.
Re-formulating processed foods and removing salt from food products are ideas that the EU feel may help to begin a reverse of the obesity tide. Clearer food labelling is another area that could have a positive effect, he said.
"We are going to make a proposal on standardising food labelling before the end of the year. There will not be complete harmonisation as different consumers want different things in products, but we want to drive up the quality of labelling and have more 'front of pack content labelling' so that it is easier for people to know what they are consuming," Dr Madelin said.
An EU movement has suggested all school-going children should be provided with a piece of fruit every day.
Dr Madelin believes that educating and familiarising children with the benefits of healthy eating, the value of fruits and vegetables in particular, is a policy that could have a positive impact on the food choices people make and decrease the cost of obesity in the future.
The cost of prescription drugs is another area that EU health officials are working on.
However, prescription prices are regulated on a national level and Dr Madelin said he believes consumers must voice their concerns in order to bring about change.
"We are trying to work between governments and pharmaceutical companies . . . to make sure that prices are fair.
"There's a big role for consumer and patient organisations to play in publicising drug prices and comparing them across other countries to demonstrate that it is possible for companies to offer lower prices," Dr Madelin added.