mr president at the beginning of this year i conducted a number of consultation meetings throughout my constituency in the context of eu policy on social issues and then these meetings fed into the commission consultation on social reality stock-taking
it was very clear to me that citizens are very interested in the eu becoming more involved in social policy and that certainly includes patient mobility
indeed the call for more social europe was reinforced during the lisbon treaty campaign and this response from the commission while not fully addressing the concerns of citizens is timely and a step in the right direction
i certainly welcome the proposals on patient mobility but agree with some of the previous speakers that very many issues still need to be clarified in particular the issue of prior authorisation
however the bottom line is that patients must be at the core of any policy and should have no worries about costs safety and quality
in the mean time patients must be fully informed of their existing rights since legal uncertainty always works to the disadvantage of individuals who do not have many personal resources
finally the french presidency referred to the fact earlier that some people will be disappointed that the issue of the mobility of health-care professionals has not been dealt with
i am one of those people
if we are to put patients at the core of any policy then patient safety is paramount so we must establish standardised accreditation systems for health-care professionals throughout the eu
