If you are having trouble viewing this email, click here to view it in a standard browser
Monthly Newsletter edited by Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network
Civic Activism   |   Patients' Rights   |   Consumers' Rights   |   Support ACN


Year 2th, number 9 - March 27, 2013
Highlight

ADR, ok from EU Parliament. But how is important in Italy?
Liliana Ciccarelli, consumer advocate, Head of the National Office of Reconciliation Policies Cittadinanzattiva

Read more:

Cittadinanzattiva policy on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
The Charter of conciliation written by Cittadinanzattiva

Focus

Commission seeks input on improving redress for consumers in cross-border claims
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on how to improve access to justice for consumers and small companies in small-scale cross-border disputes. The European Small Claims Procedure offers a cheap and easy way to resolve cross-border disputes for amounts below €2.000, without complicated legal procedures. The consultation launched today will run until 10 June 2013. Read more

Read more:
Questions & answers on Alternative Dispute Resolution and Online Dispute Resolution 

News
Patients' Rights

WHO Europe: health is threatened by the economic crisis
Published a report on the health status of the 900 million Europeans who live in the 53 countries of the WHO European Region. The level of health is clearly improving but there is a looming threat: "If the economic crisis and the cuts to health care will mix together life expectancy will drop and we will have to deal with new pandemics". Download the Report

Pharmaceuticals: New symbol to identify medicines undergoing additional monitoring
Since last September, an inverted triangle will shortly appear on the inside leaflet of certain medicinal products on the EU market, following a legal act adopted by the European Commission. The symbol will allow patients and health care professionals to easily identify medicinal products that are undergoing additional monitoring, and its accompanying text will encourage them to report unexpected adverse reactions through national reporting systems. Read more

Drugs: EU 7.5% errors when prescribing
Medication errors are the single most common preventable cause of adverse events in medication practice and a major public-health burden with an estimated annual cost between €4.5 billion and €21.8 billion (World Alliance for Patient Safety 2010). Medication errors refer to mistakes in the processes of prescribing, supplying, dispensing, preparing, administering or monitoring medicines in clinical practice. According by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), in Europe the medication-error rate in primary care is estimated at 7.5% at prescription and 0.08% at the dispensing stage, whereas in the hospital setting the rates vary between 0.3 and 9.1% and between 1.6 and 2.1% respectively. Read more

The Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) welcomes nominations of members representing patients and healthcare professional organizations
The PRAC welcomed the appointment by the European Commission of one member and alternate each representing healthcare professionals and patient organizations. Filip Babylon will represent healthcare professionals’ organizations and Albert van der Zeijden will represent patients’ organizations for a three-year period. Their alternates are Kirsten Myhr and Marco Greco, respectively. The meeting was made by the European Commission following a public call for expression of interests and a consultation of the European Parliament. The representatives of patients and healthcare professional organizations will fully participate in the work of the PRAC from April 2013. Their role is to bring the views, concerns and experiences of patients and doctors to the PRAC’s scientific considerations thus enriching its decision-making. Read more

Investment in Health set as a priority in the Social Investment Package
The European Commission has called on Member States to prioritise social investment and to modernise their welfare states. The Social Investment Package (SIP), adopted by the European Commission,  aims to help Member States use their social and health budgets more efficiently and effectively. The investing in health component asserts that health, as well as being a value in itself, is a precondition for economic prosperity. It makes the case for smart investments for sustainable health systems - spending smarter, but not necessarily more, investing in people’s health - particularly through health promotion programmes, and investing in reducing inequalities in health as a means of tackling social exclusion. Read more

USA students will make presentation in Italy to launch international campaign
12 students on Public Relations from West Virginia University are in Italy to work on the communication plan of the 7th European Patients' Rights Day, organized by Active Citizenship Network on the 16th of May 2013 in Brussels. Watch the report

Consumers' Rights

New EU rules to ensure rapid redress for disappointed shoppers
EU shoppers will get easier access to rapid, cheap and impartial mediation in disputes with traders over goods or services thanks to two new laws voted by Parliament on March. They aim to help shoppers to avoid long and costly court cases, especially over on-line or cross-border purchases. Read more

Passenger rights: better protection for bus and coach travellers in the EU
The Regulation (EU) No 181/2011 on bus and coach passenger rights became  applicable on March, providing bus and coach travellers throughout the EU with new rights. The regulation lays down travellers' basic rights, and imposes a number of obligations on bus and coach companies and terminal managers concerning their responsibility towards the passengers. Every year about 70 million passengers travel by buses and coaches in the EU. Read more

Commission seeks to improve access to rail travel for persons with disabilities and passengers with reduced mobility
The European Commission is making accessibility an essential requirement for rail infrastructure when newly built, upgraded or renewed. Accessibility can be achieved by preventing or removing barriers and through other measures such as provision of assistance. The rules apply to infrastructure (e.g. obstacle-free routes, ticketing, information desks, toilets, visual and spoken information, platform width and height, and boarding aids) and to rail carriages (e.g. doors, toilets, wheelchair spaces, and information). Read more

Protectionism on services costing the EU 2.6% of GDP
The Services Directive was adopted in 2006 and is seen as a key tool to removing barriers to operating in Europe's internal market. Currently, only 5-10% of EU GDP is generated by providing cross-border services. Implementing the Services Directive could rise economic output by some 2.6% in five to 10 years, said MEP Anna Maria Corazza Bildt. Read more

European Commission takes action to strengthen enforcement against unfair commercial practices
The European Commission outlined a series of actions to tackle aggressive commercial practices across the EU such as fake ‘free’ offers, ‘bait and switch’ advertising for products which cannot be supplied, and exhortation of children. Five years after it entered into force, the Commission reviewed the application of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and announced plans to step up enforcement of the rules to increase citizens' trust when shopping in Europe’s internal market. Read more

Civic Activism

High Quality European Education for All
Launch of all over Europe civic initiative to ask to begin investing again in quality education. In Italy, the initiative is also supported by Cittadinanzattiva that invites you to enjoy a great exercise in democracy through the use of the right of European citizens' initiative, introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon. Help us get a 1000000 signatures to improve education for everyone in Europe. Parents, teachers and young people should have a say in how kids can be better prepared for life, work, society when they leave school at 18 years old. Sign here to demand a say in the future of education. For more information, download the leaflet and visit the website.

Best practices in the field of  Active European Citizenship
The E.N.T.E.R. network (European Network for Transfer and Exploitation of EU-Project Results) has been chosen by the European Commission under the Grundtvig program to implement an Accompanying Measures project “YOURopa - supporting ideas and concepts of Active European Citizenship” with the main aim of organizing a European Conference around best practices in the field of  Active European Citizenship which contributes to the European Year of Citizens 2013. Read more

Events

9 April 2013: Health Policy Forum in Brussels
Registration is now open for the next Health Policy Forum meeting on 9 April 2013. The meeting will be held at Charlemagne Building, in the Lord Jenkins Room, Rue de la Loi 170, 1000 Brussels  from 10am to 5pm. For the registration, click here

14-15 May 2013: SIP Focus Groups 2013 in Brussels
Following three European SIP symposia between 2010-2012, this year for the first time the SIP Programme Committee has decided to invite to the so-called "SIP Focus Groups", which will take place on 14th and 15th May 2013 in Brussels in the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and in the EU Parliament. The two Focus Groups will concentrate on two topics: "Pain as Quality Indicator of Outcome" and "Chronic Pain in the Working Population". More information on the registration procedure and the two Focus Groups' topics, you can find in the SIP 2013 Programme.

16 May 2013: 7th European Patients’ Rights Day in Brussels
Active Citizenship Network is glad to invite you to the annual European Conference on Patients’ Rights: “European citizens’ rights: patients’ involvement and Cross Border Care” that will be celebrated on the 16th of May 2013 in Brussels. Read more.

 

Credits
Director and Editor in chief: Mariano Votta
Vice-director: Alessandro Cossu
Editors: Daniela Quaggia, Liliana Ciccarelli, Sabrina Nardi, Charlotte Roffiaen
Coordination and Production: Giacomo D'Orazio 

To contribute, plase write to: press@activecitizenship.net
WWW.ACTIVECITIZENSHIP.NET
Via Flaminia, 53 - 00196 Roma - Tel. +39 6 367181 - Fax +39 6 36718333