Euro brief 06
June 2008
For further information on any of these news items, please contact: nwhile@bma.org.uk
Contents
EU Ministers reach agreement on working time
Cross border patient mobility
European pact for mental health
Provision of information on pharmaceutical products: summary of responses
Counterfeit medicines: responses to consultation
Food labelling: MEPs debate Commission proposals
Professional Qualifications: UK censored for failing to notify of transposition
Report into health effects of MRI scanners
Call for proposals: ICT for elderly care
EU Ministers reach agreement on working time
EU employment ministers have finally reached agreement on the issue of the European Working Time Directive (EWTD). Following a 12 hour meeting, ministers managed to break the impasse which has delayed the progress of the EWTD for the past three years.
The deal became possible only after countries such as France overcame objections to granting the UK an opt-out that allows it to increase the weekly cap on working hours from 48 to 60 hours. As a safeguard, workers will not be eligible to sign waivers during their first month of employment and cannot be penalised for declining to do so. A bloc including Spain, Belgium, Greece, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta and Portugal resisted the compromise, labelling it a step back from the EU goal of greater security for workers.
The main points of agreement in the Working Time Directive are:
- On-call time to be split into active and inactive time. Only active on-call time to be counted as working time unless otherwise agreed by national collective agreement
- Inactive on-call time may not be counted as rest time
- Standard maximum limit remains at 48 working hours per week unless an individual worker signs an opt-out
- New cap for workers who opt out: maximum working week of 60 hours unless social partners agree otherwise. Cap of 65 hours if inactive on-call is classed as working time
- The cap protects all workers employed for longer than 10 weeks with one employer
- Opt-out only under certain conditions, such as: no signature during first month of employment, no victimisation for not signing or withdrawing opt-out, employers must keep records on working hours of opted-out workers
Cross border patient mobility
The European Commission is expected to release its long awaited proposals on cross border patient mobility on 2 July. The proposals will aim to clarify the rights of patients who wish to be treated abroad. The framework will not affect the laws concerning emergency healthcare when abroad but will address the issue of elective treatment.
On a related note, the European Commission has sent a ‘reasoned opinion’ to France regarding a case in which the costs of medical treatment received abroad were not reimbursed by the home healthcare system. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has previously ruled that member states must abolish the requirement for patients to receive prior authorisation before receiving healthcare abroad. However, France is yet to do this. The Commission is also unhappy that France is not complying with a further ECJ ruling which states that patients must be reimbursed at least that which they would have been reimbursed had they been treated in France. A ‘reasoned opinion’ is the second stage of infringement proceedings (the first being a letter of formal notice) and France now has two months in which to provide a satisfactory answer if it is to avoid being referred to the ECJ itself.
European pact for mental health
The European Commission held a high level conference on mental health earlier in month which resulted in the adoption of a new European pact for mental health and well-being. The signatories to the pact recognise mental health as being a human right and express their concern about the rise of mental disorders. The pact focuses on four priority themes:
- Prevention of suicide and depression
- Mental health in youth and education
- Mental health in workplace settings
- Mental health in older people
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/life_style/mental/docs/pact_en.pdf
Provision of information on pharmaceutical products: summary of responses
The European Commission has published a summary of the responses it received to its public consultation on the provision of information to patients. The majority of responses expressed concern that it will be very difficult to distinguish between information and advertising, and questioned the neutrality of the pharmaceutical industry as providers of information. The Commission is expected to publish legislative proposals in October 2008. The summary can be read at the website below:
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/pharmaceuticals/patients/docs/summary_publ_cons_220508.pdf
Counterfeit medicines: responses to consultation
The European Commission has published the responses it received to its public consultation on counterfeit medicines. The responses can be viewed at the website below:
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/pharmaceuticals/counterf_par_trade/counterfeit_consult_2008.htm
Food labelling: MEPs debate Commission proposals
MEPs in the European Parliament’s public health committee have begun to debate the Commission’s proposals on food labelling. The proposals were released in January (see Eurobrief 02/08) and call for all pre-packaged food to display key health and nutritional information clearly on the front of the package. At the debate this month, UK Conservative MEPs opposed the introduction of ‘traffic light’ labels (as already exist in the UK). The European Parliament will give its final report in March 2009.
Professional Qualifications: UK censored for failing to notify of transposition
The European Commission has sent ‘reasoned opinions’ to eight member states (including the UK) for failing to notify it of their transposition measures for Directive 2005/36 on the recognition of professional qualifications. The member states now have two months in which to respond.
Report into health effects of MRI scanners
The European Commission has published a report into the health effects of MRI scanners. The publication of this report follows the decision made in November 2007 to postpone implementation of the electromagnetic fields directive in the area of MRI scanners until further research had been completed (see Eurobrief 11/07). The report can be read at:
http://www.myesr.org/html/img/pool/VT2007017FinalReportv04.pdf
Call for proposals: ICT for elderly care
The European Commission has published a call for proposals under the Seventh Research Framework Programme which will fund the development of ICT based solutions for the prevention and management of chronic conditions in the elderly. A total of €57.7 million is available and the deadline for submissions is 21 August 2008. Further information can be found at:
http://www.aal-europe.eu/aal-2008-1