mr president once again let me congratulate parliament on the major achievement of reaching a conclusion on this directive
i am very pleased to see this directive being adopted
i must say that i cannot agree with the inference that this initiative promotes health tourism or enables health insurance companies to reduce costs
rather it is an assurance that citizens in need of healthcare can be in a better position to get it freeing them from bureaucratic shackles that sometimes preclude them from doing so
i believe the directive is a real breakthrough for patients and for reinforcing a europe of health
i must agree with mrs roth-behrendt mrs mcguinness and others that this should be an incentive for member states to invest in their own healthcare systems because as i have said in public many times referring to this directive we do not want to make nomads out of our citizens
we want our citizens to get the best treatment they can get at home
with this directive patients rights in cross-border healthcare are now enshrined in eu legislation but our work does not stop here
i refer here to mrs parvanova's question about possible stand-alone proposals on interoperability
i must say that interoperability is also key to making this initiative this directive operational and implementable because i cannot see us implementing this directive in a really good way without a proper interoperable e-health system
on the other hand interoperability is also very important for increasing equality in healthcare and improving the sustainability of healthcare
i now look forward to working together with the member states to see this directive properly implemented and enforced throughout the eu
much remains to be done both at european and national level to ensure that cooperation between health systems in europe becomes a reality
you can count on me to pursue this challenge with all my determination and energy
