EU Health Care Monitoring Plan

Italian Member of the European Parliament Danielo Poggiolini has launched a series of recommendations in the European Parliament for a European Union health care monitoring program. His report on amended proposals for the program's second reading contains a polemic against what he calls "the will of the Council of Ministers to empty Article 129 of the Rome Treaty of any substance."

Mr Poggiolini says the foot-dragging of EU Ministers is preventing the development of an EU public health policy. "The governments of the member states are suffering from a disquieting myopia," he adds. Concern for a community health policy would serve the European public interest and equally respond to members states' worries over their health budgets. Mr Poggiolini concedes that all EU states face severe health care cost problems, but the operation of the proposed EU health surveillance system would generate data enabling governments to establish priorities and improve efficiency.

He says the budgetary allocation for development of the project is "insulting;" Ministers failed to accept a proposal for a budget of 20 million Ecus ($25 million) and the allocation finally agreed was 13 million Ecus ($16.2 million).