Today 70% of new legislation in the European Union (EU) is designed and decided in Brussels with the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the EU the key institutions at the heart of these changes. In public health, the European Union shares competences with its Member States: whilst each Member State retains sole power to legislate in the area of health, the EU provides an important supporting role by strongly encouraging cooperation between Member States, establishing guidance and exchanging best practices. The EU seeks, in particular, to ensure equity of care and looks to set minimum standards to be upheld across Europe to ensure safety and quality care. It also addresses all cross border health issues and proposes legislation in key areas such as clinical trials, medical devices and the recognition of qualifications with particularly affects the mobility of healthcare professionals across the EU.
In this context it is important for Pan EU medical societies to engage with EU policy makers and other relevant stakeholders to be part of the debate around these legislations and initiatives and ensure their interests are taking into account. The European Commission is particularly keen to co-operate with major international societies like EFORT to gather ‘real’ data and evidence-based proposals that support decision making at both the EU and Member States level. EFORT has therefore been active around the above issues by positively informing the debate and taking part in partnership projects to exchange best practice and position the orthopaedic and trauma community as a key partner in addressing health issues. The articles on this page give an overview of some of the current key EU health topics EFORT is closely following.
For more information about EFORT activities at the EU level, please contact: EU@efort.org
