By Martin Banks - 4th March 2008
The commission remains "fully committed" to pressing ahead with its plans on cross-border healthcare, it has been revealed.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, the man who helped draft the controversial proposals pledged that the plans "would not disappear" from the political agenda.
The commission’s draft directive was shelved in December due to ‘bad timing’ with the release of proposals on CO2 emissions.
The package, aimed at regulating the conditions under which patients seeking medical treatment can travel to receive care in other member states, was pushed back again in January for the same reason.
But Philippe Brunet, head of cabinet in the commission’s health directorate, told a seminar in parliament he hoped the issue would be pushed back to "the top" of the agenda.
"We are trying to find a slot to re-introduce it in the agenda and to agree on a final text," said the French official.
"One thing is sure and that is we do not intend to allow this to disappear. After all, at the end of the day, it is all about improving patient rights."
He was speaking at an event organised by the Brussels-based Ludwig von Mises Institute-Europe.
Brunet served as head of cabinet under former health commissioner Markos Kyprianou for four years until the Cypriot returned last week to Nicosia to become foreign minister.
He was reappointed to his current job in the health and consumer protection DG following the appointment of Androula Vassiliou as successor to Kyprianou.
Addressing a debate on the commission’s plans, he also called for "more transparency" in cross-border healthcare.
"Patients need to be clearly made aware of their rights and entitlements and what they can and cannot do," he said.
He said that while the proposals protected the rights of member states on healthcare issues, they were also designed to "substantially" improve healthcare rights for patients.
"I have been asked if they represent any added value to which I reply, yes, they do, not least because they will bridge the gaps which currently exist in healthcare," he said.
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