8 July 2008

The European Commission launched on 2 July 2008 two initiatives to improve the safety and quality of care to people who require medical assistance while travelling or living abroad, namely: a Recommendation on cross-border interoperability of electronic health record (EHR) systems and the Smart Open Services (SOS) project. The Recommendation aims to provide Member States with basic principles and guidelines for ensuring that doctors can gain access to vital information on patients that they are trying to treat across Europe. The SOS project, co-funded by the European Commission, is supported by 12 Member States and their industry players, to demonstrate the benefits of such interoperability. It will enable health professionals to access specific medical data such as current medications of patients from other EU countries. In an emergency, sharing of medical information could save many patients' lives.

7 July 2008

As part of the Renewed Social Agenda, the Commission adopted on 2 July 2008 a proposal for a directive to facilitate the application of European patients' rights in relation to cross-border healthcare, as well as a Communication on improving co-operation between Member States in this area. Despite several clear European Court of Justice' rulings confirming that the EU Treaty gives individual patients the right to seek healthcare in other Member States and be reimbursed at home, uncertainty remains over how to apply the principles of this jurisprudence more generally. With this proposal the Commission aims to provide legal certainty on this issue. This follows calls from both the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers for the Commission to propose a specific initiative on cross-border healthcare, in a way explicitly adapted to, and respecting, the unique nature of the healthcare sector. In addition, the proposed Directive provides a solid basis to unlock the huge potential for European cooperation to help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of all EU health systems.