Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-12-04-Speech-4-026"
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"en.20031204.2.4-026"2
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".
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, today I have pleasure in announcing a real success for us to debate.
After two and a half years of negotiations and five presidencies which have given close attention to the matter, agreement has been reached in the Council on Regulation No 1408/1971, a particularly important regulation because it concerns the rights of workers in the European Union.
Mrs Jensen’s report precisely concerns Parliament’s position on the alignment of rights and the simplification of procedures relating to the workers of the European Union working and living in different places, and today we have the first reading.
This regulation is of exceptional importance for the rights of the insured. The proposal submitted by the Commission in June essentially reinforces the rights of the insured – all insured persons living temporarily in another Member State will have the same health care rights – but it also simplifies the procedures for safeguarding health care during temporary residency.
So we have a very specific act of the European institutions, which is understandable, clear and has an immediate impact on the daily life of European citizens. Essentially it touches on two fundamental matters in the European Union: the concept of the European citizen, on the one hand, and the right of free movement for workers, on the other.
Over and above the significant independent operation of the regulation, however, and the simplification and reinforcement of workers’ rights, it will facilitate the introduction of the European Health Insurance Card which, as you know, will be ready on 1 June 2004, and it will significantly facilitate free movement in Europe.
I must make a point of congratulating Mrs Jensen who, with a deep knowledge of the subject and with creative flexibility, has managed to formulate Parliament’s position in relation to this proposal in a relatively short space of time, I would say in an exceptionally short space of time. With the very creative cooperation which there has been between the Commission and Parliament, perhaps we really shall find ourselves today before a decision which will be taken in record time, perhaps at first reading if there is ultimately agreement, and we shall have a final agreement between the three institutions on the regulation and its operation as quickly as possible. I would remind the House that essentially within six months, from June to today, there have been very important efforts, exceptionally creative collaboration, and I am very satisfied that the Commission can accept most of the amendments proposed by Parliament, because approval of these amendments will allow the Council to proceed to final approval, following the reading by Parliament.
Ladies and gentlemen, very often, and also because of the nature of the institutions and how they operate, we concern ourselves a great deal with procedures, which are complicated. Today, with an end to procedures, with the agreement of the institutions, we essentially face a decision which has very specific and tangible repercussions on the lives of European citizens, even more so in a Europe of 25, in which the movement of workers, cooperation between the Member States, will need to be simplified and will need to be subject to much simpler and clearer procedures."@en1
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