Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-01-14-Speech-2-271"
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"en.20030114.8.2-271"2
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"Mr President, like other Members, I would firstly like to thank and congratulate the Commissioner and the rapporteur, Mr Mantovani, because I believe it has really been an excellent idea to produce a communication on the needs relating to healthcare and the care of elderly people. Commissioner, holding this debate is consistent with all this House’s concerns about the needs of elderly people, and it is very helpful that Mr Mantovani’s report has achieved such a broad consensus on certain very important ideas.
I am one of those people who believe that the dignity of a society is basically measured by the dignity with which it treats its elderly people; I also believe that issues relating to health, rather than being commercial goods, are a matter of rights. Fortunately, Mr Mantovani’s report and the amendments which I hope we will approve tomorrow and others which we will reject – I hope – will highlight these elements, which are fundamental to the future of Europe.
I am pleased that it moves in this direction, that it stresses the coordination elements which the Commissioner has mentioned, that it maintains the open coordination method, and I hope that this is the beginning of a broader consideration, so that it may also reach other elements of our society.
As the Commission has said in some of its documents, Europe – despite its great progress and despite having increased its standard of living and life expectancy over recent decades – still has problems such as the fact that one in every five citizens dies prematurely; the new risks; inequalities and differences on health issues, ...
These problems are not exclusive to elderly people, but they are problems and issues for all European citizens, who are appealing to us, to the politicians, to the European Convention, to finally treat Europe as an area in which there can be competition but also cooperation and solidarity. The European citizens are asking for it for essential elements of their lives such as health.
I therefore hope that this method of open coordination, this detailed and exhaustive approximation of health needs – but also social needs and the humanisation of the lives of the elderly – and of these problems, is extended in future communications. I hope that we will have new instruments so that Europe is not just a market, but also a collection of rights and a source of hope, which is what the public are asking us for."@en1
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