SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES : CONFERENCE ON THE FUTURE OF HEALTH COVER IN THE EU.

• Position: Brief article - Conference notes

The Social Dimension in the Internal Marketa- Perspectives of Health Care in Europe' was the name given to a conference organised in Potsdam on 15 and 16 January by the German Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Associations of Statutory Health Insurance Funds under the German Presidency of the EU. Speakers at the conference included representatives of the German federal ministry, legal health insurance funds and the European institutions as well as political and scientific representatives from various member states.

The purpose of the conference was "to highlight the potential of health care to contribute to the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy for growth and employment". The question of "what sort of interaction between competition and regulation is necessary in order to tap this potential in an optimal way while promoting social cohesion at the same time" was at the heart of the discussions. Hoping to contribute to the debate on...