Competitiveness

The European Commission has published a scoreboard to highlight the interim performance of the EU and its Member States in attaining the targets set out in the Digital Agenda for Europe. The data shows that progress is being made on most of the actions and targets set out by the Commission, however public investment needs to pick up, and more than one in four Europeans do not use the internet. The scoreboard shows that overall progress after one year (May 2010 to May 2011) of the Digital (...)

The European Commission has mandated academics to report on the ehealth infrastructures at national level. The first report is now available online detailing progress made and recommendations for cooperation. The European Commission (DG INFSO, ICT for Health unit) has awarded the eHealth strategies study to a group of partners, led by the German-based empirica research institute, to analyse progress made by the Member States with regard to the following Action Plan priorities: National (...)

This article has been updated with the recent communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, which was adopted on 20 November 2007. As a result of this additional document, the new deadline for responses has been postponed until 15 February 2008. In an own-initiative report on Europe’s social reality, the European Parliament asks the Commission and Member States to aggressively (...)

**This article has been updated with the latest developments concerning the Statement on Information to Patients** During the course of the summer, a group of various health NGOs jointly collaborated to write a statement outlining the future steps to be taken by policy-makers. The overarching aim was to maintain public health concerns at the heart of the political initiatives on information to patients. The statement was endorsed by 21 organisations. It was sent to the Steering Committee (...)

Recent research finds that a majority of prescription drug sites put people’s health at risk by operating without proper credentials. On 20 August, MarkMonitor published the results of an investigation on the counterfeit/grey market for popular prescription drugs. The investigation shows that: Out of the 3,160 surveyed on-line pharmacies, only four had gone through an accreditation scheme More than half did not secure customer data Extremely low prices suggested that some of (...)

Following the recent consultation on information to patients on medicinal products, the European Commission - DG Enterprise- has launched a new consultation on "the future of pharmaceuticals for human use". Closing date: 12 October. Why launch a new consultation on pharmaceuticals? The consultation on the future of pharmaceuticals for human use touches a wide range of issues beyond the issue of information to patients. However, the purpose of DG Enterprise remains to foster the (...)

A report from Cancer Research UK (an EPHA member) published recently argues that the EU Clinical trials directive has had a counter-productive effect on clinical trials. The 2004 European Union Clinical Trials Directive (2004/23/EC) was thought to harmonise standards across the EU, hence cutting red tape for international groups to work together. Unfortunately, the report shows that the directive is implemented slightly differently in each Member States, which implies that red tape is not (...)

The European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and the European Hospital and Healthcare Employer’s Association (HOSPEEM) - launched the 33rd hospitals’ sectoral social dialogue Committee on 22 September 2006. The Committee, which has the support of the European Commission, is intended to monitor the social, economic and employment repercussions of EU polices in the Health sector and to explore how changes within European Hospitals impact on employment. The launch of (...)

Wim Kok, former Prime Minister of The Netherlands, presented Facing the Challenge, the report of the High Level Group on the Lisbon strategy that he chaired. The report concludes that the disappointing delivery of the strategy has been due primarily to a lack of determined political action. The agenda has been overloaded, coordination has been poor and there have been conflicting priorities. The report calls for determined action to be taken urgently across five key policy areas: The (...)

The 2004 edition of the European Competitiveness Report has a key theme of the role of government policies in influencing competitiveness with specific reference to efficiency concerns in healthcare provision. The health sector’s output is about 7 per cent of EU-15 GDP and, consequently, its efficiency is ultimately reflected in the aggregate productivity data. Current healthcare systems in the EU countries are characterized by diversity in both the funding and delivery of (...)