WRITTEN QUESTION E-0930/03 by Jorge Moreira Da Silva (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Artificial tanning.
Date: 2003-03-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: apparatus based on the use of rays, hairdressing and beauty care, health policy, precautionary principle, public health, young person

18.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 222 E/243

(2003/C 222 E/272)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0913/03

by Claude Moraes (PSE) to the Commission

(24 March 2003)

Subject: European Court of Justice ruling

Can the Commission give its reaction to the ruling of the European Court of Justice on 26 February 2003,
in the case of a Greek pensioner being treated for a chronic heart complaint, that EU pensioners travelling
in Member States other than their own have the right to medical treatment even for existing chronic
medical conditions, with their home country paying the full cost?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(9 April 2003)

The Commission is very pleased with the ruling of the Court of Justice on 26 February 2003 in Case
C-326/00, which is in line with the views set out by the Commission in the conclusions it submitted
regarding this case.

According to the Court of Justice, a Member State cannot make reimbursement of necessary medical
expenses incurred by a pensioner during a visit
to another Member State conditional either upon
authorisation or upon the requirement that the illness in question manifested itself suddenly.

This ruling is very important for pensioners, as this is the first time the Court has stipulated that they may
receive healthcare which has become necessary during a visit to a Member State other than the one in
which they are resident, without being obliged to prove the urgent nature of the treatment, as required for
workers in Article 22 of Regulation 1408/71 (1). It also states that the fact that a pensioner has a pre-
existing pathology of which he is aware, such as a chronic illness diagnosed prior to the trip, is not
sufficient to prevent him from receiving the care required by a change in his state of health during his
stay.

(1) Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 of the Council of 14 June 1971 on the application of social security schemes to
employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community, last
updated by Regulation (EEC) No 118/97 (cid:1) OJ L 28, 30.1.1997.

(2003/C 222 E/273)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0930/03

by Jorge Moreira Da Silva (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(24 March 2003)

Subject: Artificial tanning

The use of solariums for artificial tanning has become increasingly common. Given the associated risks for
human health, specifically the risk of skin cancer, the fact that more and more very young people are
using solariums gives particular cause for concern.

This development has led some countries, including Brazil, to prohibit access to these artificial tanning
establishments for people under 16 and to impose conditions on access for people between the ages of 16
and 18. The countries concerned have established heavy financial penalties for any commercial
establishment failing to comply with these obligations.

What measures will the Commission take to ensure that the precautionary principle is applied to the use
of solariums by people under 18?

C 222 E/244

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

18.9.2003

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(25 April 2003)

The European Institute of Oncology (IEO) in Milan is presently reviewing and updating the ‘European Code
against Cancer’, a project financed under the ‘Europe against Cancer’ programme. This review will include
recommendations on avoiding excessive Ultra-violet (UV)-light exposure, and more recent epidemiological
evidence on the link between sunlight UV exposure and skin cancers. The exposure induced by UV
sunbeds is going to be included in the discussion. The new recommendations will be announced in June
2003 in Milan. The draft version is already accessible for discussion on a special web site (http://
www.cancercode.org/code_06.htm). The Commission will actively disseminate the outcome of this project
in order to enable citizens to take adequate precautions with regard to this issue.

(2003/C 222 E/274)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0931/03

by Jorge Moreira Da Silva (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Policy on reducing the risks of drug dependency

(26 March 2003)

Our policy on combating drug dependency has proved a failure. Trafficking has thrived on prohibitionism,
proliferating and becoming ever more profitable, providing a boost for organised crime and petty
delinquency, corrupting regimes and humiliating us for our inability to tackle it.

On the other hand, from the point of view of public health, concern is sparked not only by the physical
and mental harm caused by drug dependency, but also, owing to the number of people using injectable
drugs (cid:1) almost one million in the European Union (cid:1) by the health risks linked to infection with HIV and
hepatitis C among drug dependents, as well as the growing number of deaths caused by overdoses and
poisoning. It might be pointed out that mortality among opiate users is 20 times higher than that of the
population in general.

In the context of policy on reducing the risks of drug dependency:

1. What is the Commission’s assessment of the methadone substitution programmes carried out at

Member State level?

2. Does the Commission not consider that pilot programmes involving the administration of opiates
under medical supervision to sufferers with a long history of unsuccessful treatments, such as those
carried out in Bern, Liverpool and most recently in Asturias, should be analysed by the Commission
and implemented in the remaining countries? It might be pointed out that those programmes achieved
positive results, namely a reduction in crime, in the number of overdoses and deaths from poisoning,
and in the number of cases of infection with HIV and hepatitis C.

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(16 April 2003)

1.
The Commission itself has not conducted any study on the methadone substitution programmes
carried out at Member State level, but the preparation of an inventory of risk reduction methods used in
the Member States is planned for 2003 in collaboration with the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs
and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

The EMCDDA commissioned a study of substitution treatment in all 15 Member States and published the
results in a book called ‘Reviewing current practice in drug-substitution treatment in the European Union’
in 2000. This study concludes that substitution treatment leads to increased physical, psychological, and
social well-being and reduces criminality.