WRITTEN QUESTION E-0177/00 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Making low-cost health insurance subject to free competition.
Date: 2000-01-31
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European social policy, Netherlands, competence of the Member States, health insurance

3.10.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 280 E/195

(2000/C 280 E/227)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0177/00

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(31 January 2000)

Subject: Making low-cost health insurance subject to free competition

1.
Can the Commission confirm the accuracy of the announcement by the Council for Public Health
and Care (RVZ) in the Netherlands to the effect that the Medical Insurance (Access) Act (WTZ) may no
longer provide for a low-cost (cid:146)standard package policy(cid:146) for people over the age of 65, which every private
insurer is obliged to offer?

Can the Commission also confirm that the (cid:145)MOOZ,(cid:146) the solidarity levy paid by all privately insured
2.
persons to compensate health insurance funds with a large number of elderly insured persons for their low
premiums and high costs, is no longer authorised by the European Union?

Does the Commission realise that, if the answers to questions 1 and 2 are yes, hundreds of thousands

3.
of individual insured persons on low incomes will find themselves in difficulty?

4.
Can the Commission also confirm that it is considering other measures which would, if implemented,
lead to a sharp increase in public-sector expenditure on health care, for instance the obligation to conclude
contracts with a larger number of health care providers and agreements on health care costs and cover?

5. What action does the Commission intend to take to prevent health care in the Netherlands from
free
becoming subordinate to considerations of
competition is to increase individual and public-sector expenditure on the existing health care package
unnecessarily?

in particular when the result of

free competition,

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(14 March 2000)

It is for each Member State to organise its social security system (including health systems) as it wishes,
and to determine the conditions for entitlement to benefits under those systems, providing of course that
they do so in accordance with Community law. There are Community provisions on the co-ordination of
social security systems removing obstacles to the free movement of people within the Community and
provisions on discrimination between men and women in social security.

However, the Commission is not aware of the specific announcement described by the Honourable
Member, nor of any Community measures with the characteristics described. The Commission will
therefore seek further information from the Dutch authorities.

(2000/C 280 E/228)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0182/00

by Paul R(cid:252)big (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(31 January 2000)

Subject: Exclusion from the right to deduct VAT on cars in Austria

In Austria it is not possible to deduct VAT on passenger cars and estate cars; this results in blatant
distortion of competition for Austrian undertakings compared with other Member States.

The section of the Commission(cid:146)s proposal for a directive COM(98) 377 final (1) covering the harmonisation
of provisions on expenditure not eligible for deduction of the full VAT, as amended by the European
Parliament, should therefore be implemented immediately.