PUBLIC HEALTH : COREPER ENDORSES TWO KEY AGREEMENTS.

• Position: Brief article

The agreements on cross-border health care and counterfeit medicines, negotiated last week in a three-way meeting, were endorsed, on 21 December 2010, by the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper).

The idea of settling the issue of cross-border health care is not, in fact, new and was almost abandoned on more than one occasion. In 2004, the Commission had attempted to introduce certain provisions into the Services Directive, albeit unsuccessfully. In 2008, it had then proposed a directive specifically devoted to this issue, but that had been blocked, in December 2009, by a minority of member states. The agreement at second reading, which was eventually achieved after a three-way meeting, on 15 December, introduces a prior authorisation system making it possible to control the flow of patients and clarify the cases that could prompt refusal by a member state of affiliation to grant prior authorisation. The directive must make it possible for a patient to be treated in another...