Mr President, I too wish to join with the previous speakers in expressing my deepest sympathy with the people of Spain, the victims, and their families. Difficult though it is to pass on to the agenda, our topic is ‘health care and care for the elderly’, and it is a very important one. In all probability, this report will receive very broad support in the House today – the result of excellent cooperation between Members belonging to all the political groupings, for which I would like to extend the warmest of thanks to all of them, but especially to Mr Mantovani. I might add that my report follows on from his own, which he presented a year ago, and the things we called for then are every bit as relevant today as they were at the time; indeed, the problems have become even more pressing. Let me only cite the length of time people have to wait for treatment, the worsening staffing bottlenecks and the alarming reports of conditions in care homes, some of which are degrading. Governments, too, have now realised how important it actually is to organise a structured exchange of information both in the health sector and in the sphere of care for the elderly. Whilst the results of the high-level reflection process speak for themselves, we now have no more time to lose, and so we strongly urge the European Council to adopt at last the principle of application of the open coordination method and a detailed timetable. The common objectives and indicators should be agreed by early 2006. After all, the Convention did, in its draft treaty, specify open coordination for health policy – with, of course, this House participating as it should. If the Member States want to guarantee the future accessibility, quality and financial viability of health systems and care for the elderly, then what is needed most of all is more prevention and transparency. At both European and national levels, prevention and health promotion must receive the same attention as curative medicine. If they do not, we really will soon be unable to cope with the growing burden of patients. Transparency, though, is an indispensable requirement if quality is to be maintained and if the best possible use is to be made of the resources that health systems possess. Far more than has formerly been the case, the quality of medical services must be demonstrable. We must no longer spend a lot of money and get poor quality in return. Patients’ organisations have a very important part to play in this, and must, in future, be more involved in all decisions on matters of health policy. All Member States should also adopt a patients’ law or patients’ charter, but, in order to secure greater legal security for people who become ill and have to be treated abroad, we also need common European standards for patients’ rights. It would indeed be a major breakthrough if a European patients’ charter were to be adopted, and so we urge the Commission and the Member States to devise shared criteria for one. A large number of questions, though, still remain open after the European Court of Justice’s rulings on the reimbursement of treatment costs incurred in another Member State, and so what we expect from the Commission is proposals, not only as to how patients can have greater legal certainty, but also as to how the national health services can be protected from the potentially adverse effects of the internal market rules. The effects of European rules should be monitored by a standing committee of experts, which would submit reports on a regular basis. The fact is that health is not an economic commodity; our health services are founded on solidarity, and that must be defended. All the Member States also face major challenges as regards long-term care and care for the elderly. We should join together in seeking strategies for integrating health provision and care more effectively with each other, for better care at home and for the provision of sufficient care homes. There is also a need for clear standards of care, not only in people’s own homes but also in institutions, and, above all, for regular and independent quality controls. There is, then, much to be done if our European model of a health policy founded upon solidarity is to be maintained in the long term.

Political group: PSE