Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, dear guests, on the last plenary day of the European Year of People with Disabilities, I am very grateful to be able to present to you, on behalf of the Committee on Petitions, the report I have drawn up concerning the effects of discriminatory treatment afforded to persons with multiple sclerosis in the European Union. The background to this report is a petition by a young English woman two years ago and I am happy to be able to say that Louise McVay is at this moment sitting in the visitor’s gallery, observing what her determination and courage led to. Louise found out she had MS and was bitterly disappointed to learn that she simply had not been allowed to benefit from life enhancing medication. In her country, as elsewhere in Europe, people are accorded unequal status regarding the availability of medication and rehabilitation just because of where they live. Louise wrote to the President of the European Parliament, who redirected her letter to the Committee on Petitions. There are more than 400 000 MS sufferers in the European Union, and as one of them I myself started work in Parliament and the Committee on Petitions in the spring of this year, just at the time Louise’s petition came up for discussion. I was given the task of drafting this report, whose objective it is to shed further light on concrete ways of improving the lives of MS sufferers throughout the EU. MS affects young people at a time in their lives when study, the pursuit of a career and starting a family are important issues. Two out of three sufferers are women. The report shows just how much obtaining a diagnosis and treatment vary within the European Union. This disparity in acquiring the best possible medication and therapy violates people’s fundamental right to healthcare. I believe that with better levels of cooperation and the full support of all the Union’s institutions, above all and most obviously Parliament, health ministers will be able to concentrate resources more effectively on support for people with this disease. I believe that the disease’s erratic and unpredictable nature should be taken into account in such a way that sufferers are not so vulnerable with regard to keeping their jobs as well as their social environment. At the moment MS is an incurable illness and anyone diagnosed with it cannot just psychologically adapt to a change in their life. This disease puts a great strain on both the sufferer and his or her family, also financially. In connection with this I have tabled Amendment No 3 at Louise McVay’s request. Because her symptoms varied so much it was thought she did not meet the requirements which would entitle her to medical services. The report proposes a number of measures for international cooperation and research and it is hoped that the Commission will contribute to the realisation of these. The report urges the next meeting of health ministers of the Member States to include a debate on these requests in its agenda, and I hope that Parliament will be informed about the decisions taken and proposals for action. I have also tabled two amendments on the need to adhere to the precautionary principle, especially in the handling of toxic chemicals. The matter arose when in Scotland they suspected there was a link between TBT and MS. It is in any case known that this substance affects the central nervous system. Although my report specifically focuses on MS and its particular features, there are also a number of other similar illnesses, and, having discussed the matter with my colleague, I have decided to put forward another oral amendment to include a mention of these. In my country, Finland, there are just 6 000 MS sufferers, but each of us have many associates among the hundreds of thousands in the EU that share the same fate. Those of us the new precious drugs agree with feel a sense of solidarity with all those whose illness has progressed to the stage where they have become disabled. We could strive more to improve conditions for everyone. I hope that this, the first of my reports, will be read carefully by those at the level of responsibility for healthcare in the Member States. After all the political and constitutional controversies this week Parliament can show that we also listen to the citizen here, and not just the President-in-Office of the Council. It is good that people believe that Parliament exists for human expectations and requests for help and that it is not just a lot of buildings in an asphalt jungle in some country in central Europe. It would appear that the request by the public and which is mentioned in my report is now to be implemented, as Commissioner Diamantopoulou mentioned at the beginning of December that the Commission intends to propose a special directive to guarantee the rights of the disabled. (Applause)

Political group: Verts-ALE