Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-05-18-Speech-2-345"
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"en.20100518.31.2-345"2
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"Madam President, 56 000 Europeans are waiting for an organ transplant in Europe; for many of these people, a successful transplant is a matter of life and death. This is why we are here today: to ensure high quality and safe organ transplantation across Europe. This is what the Commission’s proposal for a directive and the action plan are about. I would like to thank the rapporteur, Dr Mikolášik, and the shadow rapporteurs for their excellent work on the proposed directive on the quality and safety of organs. I would also like to thank Mr Perello Rodriguez for his supportive own-initiative report on the action plan on organ donation and transplantation.
Finally, several amendments align the proposals to the comitology provisions of the Lisbon Treaty. I welcome the possibility granted to the Commission to adopt, in clearly defined cases, delegated acts under the urgency procedure in this regard. I declare that the European Commission undertakes to keep the European Parliament and the Council fully informed on the possibility of a delegated act being adopted under the urgency procedure. As soon as the Commission services foresee that a delegated act might be adopted under the urgency procedure, they will informally warn the secretariats of the European Parliament and the Council.
I also declare on behalf of the Commission that the provisions of this directive shall be without prejudice to any future position of the institutions as regards the implementation of Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, or individual legislative acts containing such provisions.
To conclude, let me state that the Commission is prepared to support the compromise package.
Let me recall that the key objectives of these two initiatives are to improve quality and safety for human organs for transplantation, to increase organ availability and to make transplantation systems more efficient and accessible. The proposal for a directive sets the legal framework for quality and safety requirements, and the action plan focuses on increasing the availability of organs, and the efficiency of transportation systems.
The six-year action plan sets out 10 priority actions to reinforce cooperation between Member States through joint actions and the sharing of best practices. I note the wishes of Parliament to include in the action plan activities which could not become legal obligations in the directive under Article 168 of the treaty, in particular, regarding criteria for allocating organs, recording the wishes of potential donors and issues related to medical practices. The Commission is willing to support the Member States in addressing these issues of importance to Parliament.
With regard to the directive, I am very pleased that we are now close to a first-reading agreement following swift and constructive dialogue between Parliament, the Commission and the Council. I believe that this is the first agreement to be reached at first reading since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.
I am convinced that the text with the amendments proposed includes Parliament’s key concerns as set out in Dr Mikolášik’s report. Allow me to comment on a few specific issues.
I strongly support strengthening the principles of voluntary and unpaid donation, which are essential for ensuring the quality and safety of organs. I also welcome clarification that the principle of non-payment shall not prevent living donors from receiving compensation, provided that this is strictly limited to covering the expenses and loss of income related to the donation. I fully share Parliament’s concern as regards combating organ trafficking. However, the scope of the proposal is limited to quality and safety as stipulated in the public health article of the treaty. In this context, I welcome the text stating that the directive will indirectly contribute to combating organ trafficking, for example, through the authorisation of transplantation centres, the establishment of conditions of procurement and systems of traceability of organs.
I also understand Parliament’s concern about transparent, non-discriminatory and scientific criteria for organ allocation. Although the matter falls outside the EU’s sphere of responsibility, I can accept the inclusion of this principle in a recital. I also welcome the fact that the text proposed recognises that living donation coexists with deceased donation in most Member States. Living donation increases the number of available organs and I welcome the text strengthening the efforts to protect living donors as a means to guarantee quality and safety of organs for transplantation.
Moving on, as regards the provisions dealing with consent systems and certification of death, these issues are governed by national law. However, in the spirit of compromise, the Commission can accept the additional clarifications proposed. I also note Parliament’s wish to include in the action plan activities which cannot be covered by the directive, in particular, regarding criteria for allocating organs, recording the wishes of potential donors and issues relating to medical practices. The Commission is willing to support the Member States to address these issues.
Let me also raise another issue: adopting a law is the first step. What really matters is that the law is implemented. This is why the Commission insists that Member States report how they transpose directives into national law: the ‘correlation tables’. Parliament has always supported this. I regret that, for the very first time, Parliament does not support inclusion in the directive of the obligation for Member States to report on transposition."@en1
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