madam president i too am very pleased with the agreement we reached today which i think will ensure that patients will have access to cross-border healthcare in a proportionate way and an equitable way
as several of the speakers have already said the current proposal is here of course because a citizen from your own country from the south of england challenged the system and because the court of justice vindicated her rights
i think what we are trying to do today and what we along with the council have done is to ensure that citizens rights are vindicated and we are linking the needs and rights of citizens to legislation and surely this is what this parliament should be about
there are still a few matters that need to be ironed out
i think the mutual recognition of prescriptions between member states is very important because this is not just about healthcare it is about after-care as well but we have a period of time in which that detail can be finalised
i suppose the final comment i would make is that in the current financial crisis a lot of citizens are asking is europe working
is it delivering for its citizens
that is an open question but i think today we can say with some certainty that europe is working
