Health law ‘reworked’ to avoid public outrage

The European Commission is preparing a watered-down version of the controversial health services directive for publication in February.

According to a Commission official, the draft is being "reworked" to make it more palatable to member states and MEPs. The official said that "the overall orientation was to adjust it to maximise chances of adoption", adding that the "re-formulated" document would be presented to commissioners during February.

The health services directive, which is intended to make it easier for people to travel to other member states for medical treatment, was postponed in December following pressure from Socialist MEPs and splits within the Commission. Around half the commissioners are said to have had concerns about the directive.

Margot Wallström, a vice-president of the Commission, told European Voice: "Last December, there was broad agreement in the Commission that the draft proposal [on health services] needed some further work. I am confident that we will soon be able to table a revised proposal for a directive which will increase access, clarity and security for patients and health services."

The main issue has been how to balance the right of patients to travel with pressures on member states’ health systems. The Commission is re-drafting the proposal to ensure that an "emergency brake" is in place to stop national health systems being overwhelmed by a sudden influx of cross-border patients. The legal basis of the proposal is also being re-visited. The previous draft was drawn up on an internal market legal basis, but the new version could have a joint legal basis on the internal market and social security, although this would have no implications for the way the directive will be adopted.

The Commission is anxious to avoid a re-run of the public protests over the ‘Bolkestein’ services directive in 2004-05, when thousands of people took to the streets to demonstrate against liberalisation.

Andreas Schwab, a German centre-right MEP, said that the Commission had handled the health services directive "quite badly" in an attempt to steer clear of controversy during the time of the ratification of the Lisbon treaty: "My opinion is that the Commission wants to avoid any process where they could get into trouble."

The revival of the draft directive in any form is likely to anger many Socialist MEPs who are concerned that the proposal will create inequality in access to services.

On Tuesday (29 January) Evelyne Gebhardt, a German Socialist MEP, called on the Commission to abandon the proposal for this term. "It would be better to have time to discuss it. One year before [European Parliament] elections is not a good time," she said. "We need to have one directive on the services of general interest to ensure that these services are accessible to all people and at a high level of quality."

The European Commission is preparing a watered-down version of the controversial health services directive for publication in February.