On 12 November 2004, the Standing Committee of European Doctors adopted a position statement on the Draft Directive on Services in the Internal Market.
The position notes the opportunities for opening up freedoms for patients, consumers and professionals are welcomed. CPME supports the idea of the draft directive to the extent that migration and cross-boarder services of physicians should be facilitated as long as concerns about public safety and quality of services are observed. Nevertheless, the European Commission should recognise that the objectives of the Internal Market are wider than economic gains that can be made. Health care makes an important and specific part of services. Dealing with citizens life and well being health services need stricter control and regulation than most other services. It is essential that member states can take the responsibility of guaranteeing the quality and equal availability of health care for their citizens in all circumstances. There are aspects in the draft directive, which may undermine possibilities to fulfil this obligation, and it is necessary to amend the draft directive.
Due to the many legal uncertainties of the draft Directive and of the lack of proper evaluation of its impacts on the health care sector, the CPME recommends exclusion of the health care sector from the draft Directive. The CPME will reconsider this position after having heard, how the concerns set out in this paper are addressed.
Taking the many difficulties with the draft directive into consideration, the Commission should also study alternative approaches. One possibility is to draft a separate service directive for the health care sector, where the many specific requirements could be better addressed. The proposed service directive could be implemented in those areas of services where it seems to be feasible and necessary.
In order to facilitate migration and cross-border services of physicians a consultation body between health authorities of member states could be established in areas which suffer from administrative problems.
