Homepage
Sitemap
Larger
Smaller
Login
Registration
Help
Terms of use
Regional and local authorities endorse EU health strategy but underline that EU powers in health policy are limited
11.04.2008, 09:43
The Committee of the Regions (CoR) has welcomed the new EU health strategy in its opinion on the White Paper "Together for Health: A Strategic Approach for the EU 2008-2013" adopted by the assembly on 9 April. The White Paper recognises that regional and local authorities have a key role to play in healthcare.
The opinion drawn up by Karsten Uno Petersen (DK/PES), a member of South Denmark Regional Council, stresses that in many Member States regional and local authorities are responsible for delivering healthcare. They should therefore, be fully involved in implementing the strategy on the ground.
The report states that the EU must respect "the limited health-policy related powers assigned to the European Union" and "should not result in any moves towards harmonisation or to any infringement of the subsidiarity principle". The rapporteur comments that "cooperation amongst EU countries on different health issues is very important, i.e cancer screening. However it must be kept in mind that the structure and organisation of health care treatment remains a national responsibility".
The Committee supports the three overriding objectives of the strategy: fostering good health in an ageing Europe, protecting citizens from health threats and supporting dynamic health systems and new technologies. However, Mr Petersen believes the White Paper should have addressed pharmaceutical issues as a part of health strategy and not only as a part of industrial policy.
He urges the Commission to make reducing inequalities a priority objective, with more support for Member States that are lagging behind in developing their health policy. Mr Petersen, who will be the CoR's rapporteur on the Commission's proposal for a framework directive, also says that "cross-border healthcare will be the next big challenge for the EU".
The CoR also calls for stronger cooperation with "various networks and organisations that pool local and regional authority expertise in the health arena at EU level". It backs the Commission proposal for a new EU-level structured cooperation mechanism to advise the Commission and to promote coordination between the Member States, provided that this new mechanism secures adequate regional and local input and involvement at an early stage.
Mr Petersen said that "in practical terms this might mean that a number of places on the new EU health-related committees would be filled not only by national-level members but also by regional and local representatives. These representatives should be appointed from within the Committee of the Regions and report back to it," he added.
Source: www.cor.eu