The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council met on the 4th October 2004 in Luxemburg.
Health and long-term care
The Council endorsed the Opinion of the Social Protection Committee on the Commission’s Communication regarding the application of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) to health and long term care.
The Commission Communication proposed the following common objectives for the development and modernisation of health care provision and funding:
universality, fairness and solidarity in the access to care;
promotion of high-quality care;
guarantee of the financial sustainability of the accessible, high quality care.
While supporting the approach outlined in the Commission’s Communication, the SPC opinion, as endorsed by the Council, stresses that the OMC should be introduced in a progressive and flexible manner, while placing a strong emphasis on added value.
It should, furthermore, be subject to the following conditions:
it should not impose an excessive administrative burden;
health ministries should be directly involved in the OMC process;
overlaps with the follow-up of the high level reflection on patient mobility should be avoided;
coherence of views should be ensured within the single EU Council formation of ministers of health and social policy;
the joint working with the Economic Policy Committee should continue.
Modernising social protection for the development of high-quality, accessible and sustainable health care and long-term care: support for the national strategies using the "open method of coordination".
The OMC now being applicable to health and long term care, the Member States will benefit from the experience and good practices of the other Member States for the definition of their national strategies.
The coordination of national policies in this area will complement the three other main areas of social protection (pensions, social inclusion and "making work pay") which have been closely coordinated since 2000.
It is henceforth expected that the Member States will present preliminary reports covering the challenges facing their healthcare systems, current reforms and medium term policy by March 2005.
Social services of General Interest
The Council held a public policy debate on the impact of internal market and competition rules on the provision of social services of general interest.
Services of general interest cover both market and non-market services considered as of general interest by the public authorities and subject to specific public services obligations.
Debate focused on the following main issues:
organisation of services in the area of social policy (means of financing, definition of tasks, ownership, etc.) and specific characteristics of services in the area of social policy, if any, in comparison to other kinds of services;
the interaction between EU internal market and competition rules/jurisprudence and the Member States competence to define, organise and/or finance social services;
the EU role and the future provision of social services in the Member States (EU-coordination and/or legislation role, Open Method of Coordination role, subsidiarity, etc.).
In recent years the role of the EU in shaping the future of services of general interest has been at the centre of the debate on the European model of society.
Today’s debate was intended to provide an input for the Communication that the Commission should submit in 2005 regarding the framework in which social services of general interest should operate and be modernised.
Delegations stressed the need for more clarity about the relation between the internal market and competition rules and the need to guarantee social objectives such as universal service provision and equal access for all.
Working Time Directive
The Council held a first exchange of views on the recently submitted proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive amending Directive 2003/88/EC concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time.
The delegations generally welcomed the Commission proposal on the grounds that it would improve legal certainty in this area, especially in the light of recent Court of Justice case law concerning time spent by doctors not working during on-call duty.
The main amendments that would be introduced by the draft Directive concern:
the length of the reference period for the calculation of maximum weekly working time [1];
definition of working time: introduction of the definitions of "on call time" and "inactive part of on-call time";
the conditions of the application of the "opt-out" clause regarding the maximum weekly working time.
The Presidency’s objective is to reach political agreement on a draft Directive at the 6/7 December 2004 Council.
In the same topic, please read EPHA’s article "Revision of the European Working Time Directive".
Please find below related documents.
Draft background paper for the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council
