ENVI Committee urges EC to exclude healthcare from the Regulation of Professions

16/06/2017 News Europe , Policy 1837 Views
ENVI Committee urges EC to exclude healthcare from the Regulation of Professions

On 29 May 2017, The committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) agreed on a draft opinion in which it urges the European Commission to exclude healthcare jobs from changes to the Regulation of Professions. The Committee is worried that the proposed legislation is “too complex to implement” and might do more harm than good.

The European Commission is planning to change its legislation to strengthen the comparability and transparency of regulations member states apply to professions in healthcare and other industries. Professionals with passports from the European Union can in theory move to any member state and start working. However, the amount of regulations countries and trade groups within them apply to different professions is fragmenting what should be a single market. This makes it harder for professionals to relocate and results in divergence in the quality of regulation across the region.

Officials tried to address the situation at the European Union level in 2013, but that directive has failed to deliver the desired outcomes. A mutual evaluation process, also known as proportionality test, established by the directive showed “regulatory decisions are currently not always based on sound and objective analysis or carried out in an open and transparent manner.” The commission has responded with a proposal intended to improve regulatory practices and their outcomes.

While ENVI understands the drive of the Commission to implement those regulatory change to better suit the single market strategy, it believes that, in the case of healthcare, it will do more harm than good. More specifically, ENVI thinks the complexity and regulatory burden of the directive will hinder member states’ ability to deliver healthcare services. As such, the committee has proposed an amendment to exclude healthcare professionals from the bill.

“There is a need to ensure that the member states fulfill to the letter their responsibilities … regarding the details of their health policies and how they organize the provision of healthcare services and medical care by dedicated regulated professions. In order to achieve this, such regulated professions should be excluded from the scope of this directive,” ENVI wrote.

ENVI proposed a second amendment to clarify the breadth of the exclusion for the healthcare professions. Another proposed amendment adds a line stating “people’s health and lives are of prime importance.”

Click here to access ENVI’s draft opinion.

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