Brussels, 16/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - At the same time as Thursday's Health Council, the Belgian Presidency organised a European conference on the use of antibiotics in Europe. At a press conference, the Council President and Belgian Health Secretary Magda Aelvoet acknowledged that the instrument - a recommendation - proposed by the European Commission and adopted by Ministers on Thursday was "weak" and herself confessed that the terminology used in the title "recommendation on the cautious use of anti-microbials in human medicine" was "too cautious". She explained that in fact ministers had wanted to speak of a reduction in the use and placed emphasis on the introduction, at the Presidency's request, of deadlines that the Council accepted: Member States have one year, until end-2002, to implement the recommendation and will have to send the Commission a report on implementation end-2003. Ms/ Aelvoet justified the weakness of the instrument by the extremely limited nature of the EU's powers in matters of health and hoped for a review of Article 152 of the Treaty. The European Commission's Director General for Health and Consumer Protection, Robert Coleman recognised that the development of resistances to anti-microbials warranted a "comprehensive strategy" not only on the use of anti-infectious agents in human medicine but also on their administration for veterinary or fattening purposes , as well as in plant health. He explained that a proposal was currently being examined regarding the monitoring of zoonoses and aspects linked to resistance in the veterinary sector. Like Commissioner David Byrne, the day before the end o the Council, Mr. Coleman placed emphasis on the fact that almost all antibiotics were banned in animal feed, and said that the Commission was in the process of drawing up a proposal to eliminate the last four.