The general objective of the conference is to support in implementation of EU policy on tobacco control, in particular with respect to raising awareness on health risks.
More specific this can be divided in:

1. Policy objectives
a. Improved national implementation of the FCTC guidelines in Europe.
b. Continued and intensified tobacco control policies and activities through (new) long lasting and comprehensive tobacco control programs and campaigns at EU level (e.g. EU HELP campaign) and at national level; e.g. the Dutch tobacco control program will end by 2011;
c. Understanding tobacco industry tactics (that prevent implementation of FCTC guidelines (especially article 5.3) and tobacco control across Europe) and knowledge about how to counteract them;
d. Better understanding (at the policy level) how tobacco control improves the health of the population and decreases health risks, which are prerequisites for economic productivity and prosperity.

2. Cooperation and Networking objectives
a. Enable networking and the creation of new alliances among participants and countries;
b. Increased cooperation and exchange of knowledge, experience and products between eastern and western European countries (according to article 152 of the EC Treaty);
c. More and better trained next generation professionals in tobacco control throughout Europe, and the establishment of an ongoing platform for these professionals.

3. Action objectives
a. Youth empowerment across Europe to undertake activities in their own country;
b. Introduction of new approaches to ensure that measures also reach underprivileged populations.

4. Media and target group objectives
a. The conference will be covered by European and international media;
b. The conference will be perceived by the target group as an important next step in tobacco control in Europe.

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In accordance with the subsidiarity principle, it is the responsibility of each Member State to implement its own health policy, but there are areas where Member States can not act alone effectively (i.e. reducing marketing pressure on children) or where Members States can learn a lot from each other.

Thus, the overall aim of the Conference is to support Member States and stakeholders to work more efficiently in addressing the burden of NCDs, using innovative cooperations and governance structures. The conference, by bringing together leading European stakeholders with a common objective, will provide Member States and other stakeholders with a forum for sharing information, resources, best practise and expertise in primary prevention by addressing three of the key health determinants (nutrition, physical activity and tobacco control). The Conference should also help identifying common actions at EU level that can provide added-value to national efforts.

In addition, the Conference aims to reduce health inequalities existing between Member States by giving a particular attention to Central and Eastern European countries and new Member States.

Considering
- the diversity of national public health systems in the European Union;
- that the action plans of Member States are not widely disseminated;
- that public health indicators of new Member States and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries are similar to each other and far behind those of the EU-15

the specific objectives of the Conference are:
1. to present effective public health systems and sustainable action plans;
2. to identify and share best practices and know-how at EU, national and local levels;
3. to promote interdisciplinary cooperation and exchange of experiences between experts working in three different areas (nutrition, physical activity, tobacco control);
4. to provide an opportunity for new Member States and Central and Eastern European countries to present their activities.
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