VII European Patients’ Rights Day
“European Citizens' rights: patients' involvement and Cross Border Care”
Partecipate in the 7th European Patients' Rights Day (16th May 2013 – Brussels) that will be dedicated to the final principle of the European Charter of Patients' Rights, i.e. the "Right to participate in policy making in the area of health". Active Citizenship Network has decided to emphasize it in occasion of the 7th EPRD for two reasons: a) 2013 is the European Year of Citizens, which especially aims at raising citizens' awareness of their rights and at stimulating their active participation in the European policy-making; b) 25 October 2013 is the deadline for the national transposition of the directive 2011/24/EU on the application of patients' rights in cross-border healthcare, which officially recognizes most of the rights established in the European Charter and therefore can not be successfully implemented without the involvement of patients' organizations.
The structure of the conference will therefore reflect these two rationales: 1) The Directive on Patients' Rights in Cross Border Care; 2) Patients' involvement. Read more

Commission to test the efficiency of national courts
The European Commission launched at the end of March a scoreboard to compare the justice systems of member states in a bid to assess how courts can affect economic growth. The justice scoreboard will focus on the business and investment climate, such as the efficiency of EU courts to resolve civil and commercial disputes. Read more

Read more: A journey through the Italian courts. Made the first civic Evaluation on civil courts promoted by Cittadinanzattiva

A bombshell judgment: the disease is chronic disability
The pronunciation comes from the Court of Justice of the European Union and relates to a lawsuit filed by two Danish workers, suffering from a chronic disease, fired for too many days of absence from their respective companies. For the European judges a disease, if it involves physical limitations, mental or psychological impairments that prevent the full participation and regular professional activity, is considered a form of disability. Read the judgment of the Court

Quality and Safety for Patients and Professionals: the certification of Delivery Rooms. The Italian Project
The International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics has published an abstract on the work that has been done in Italy to improve the safety of birth centers, edited by "Italian Working Group for safety at Birth", which is part of the Court for the rights of ill-Cittadinanzattiva, along with doctors and professionals. Read more

Wounds and infections in hospital: EU Directive operating from May
It is a problem that you do not talk much, but in Europe will soon be regulated by a Directive (2010/32/EU a), written two years ago and that must be implemented by each member state by May 11, 2013: it is the prevention and elimination of the risk of infection for health care workers, and the aim is the highest possible level of safety of the work environment, avoiding any possible health workers exposure to biohazardous. Download the Directive

Application process open for Advocacy Travel Awards
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) invites patient advocates to apply for the organization’s Advocacy Travel Awards. The IASLC will offer travel awards to a limited number of patient advocates to participate in the World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) Oct. 27-30, 2013 in Sydney, Australia. Read more

Life With Lung Cancer: New Videos
As a caregiver of a loved one with lung cancer, how does one find support for oneself while maintaining the privacy of the patient? The website “Life with Lung Cancer” presents a series of videos with caregiver and patient. Watch the new video “Finding Support”.

The Consumer Classroom goes online
The European Commission is funding a new collaborative website for teachers that will provide high quality resources and interactive tools to help teachers give 12 to 18 year olds the practical consumer skills they need. For more information: www.consumerclassroom.eu

“GET SMART!”: A video tutorial from the Italian DPA to protect privacy on smartphones and tablets
Smartphones and tablets store a large amount of personal information such as pictures, videos, messages, traffic data, etc. To make Italian users better aware of how important it is to protect this information, the Italian Data Protection Authority created a tutorial video providing simple, useful tips to protect one's privacy when using tablets or smartphones. The video is called "Get Smart!” and it can be downloaded from the DPA's website.

Public consultation on the Green Paper on Plastic Waste
The objective of this green paper is to consult stakeholders on possible responses to the public policy challenges posed by plastic waste which are at present not specifically addressed in the EU Waste legislation. The consultation ends on June 2013. Read more

Shaping Europe: Civic Education in Action
A scholarship programme for professionals active in Citizenship Education from Central and Southeastern Europe. The German Federal Agency for Civic Education and the Robert Bosch Stiftung are awarding 16 scholarships to active professionals from Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Turkey. They are looking for people at the beginning of their professional careers who wish to be active internationally, and  applicants to already be actively promoting democracy and social responsibility in their own countries and to be engaged in civic education. Closing date for applications: June 16th 2013. Read more

European competition generetions@school
At the start the second edition of the generations @ school 2013, on the occasion of the European Year of Citizens, invites teachers, students and people of older age to organize debates on Europe, on its past but also about what adults and children can do together to build the Europe of the future. The deadline for application is June 30. Read more

Italian Alliance for the European Year of Citizens 2013
In the framework of the European Alliance for the "European Year of Citizens 2013", key organizations and civil society groups in Italy have created their own national network in order to share best practices, coordinate activities that will be held during the year , facilitate dialogue between citizens and institutions, prepare proposals to be submitted to the European Commission, the European Parliament and to the Italian government in view of the EU's rotating six-month presidency (second half 2014). Among those who have joined, even Cittadinanzattiva. Visit the official website

From 7th to 12th May 2013 the Festival of Europe returns to Florence (Italy)
An occasion to reflect on future Europe, a laboratory of communication between the European Union and its citizens and a display of the Union's activities and its member states.
With more than 1000 events, the Festival proposes to highlight the “European calling” of the Tuscany region and its capital, which will become again the capital of the old continent for five days. Read more

7 May 2013 in Florence (Italy): “From protest to proposal. The citizens for transparency and efficiency of Public Administration”
Organized during the Festival of Europe, the event is dedicated to the presentation of an elaborated report by Cittadinanzattiva and Fondazione Etica. The objective is to make data and information about administrative activity gathered by citizens and workers, available to citizens, central and local public administration workers, the Government and all the stakeholders. Among the main themes: transparency on the European level and weight of corruption and waste on the Italian society. Read more

14-15 May 2013: SIP Focus Groups 2013 in Brussels
During the Focus Group “Chronic Pain in the EU Working Population” on May 15 in the European Parliament, Pain Alliance Europe and Active Citizenship Network will present "European Assessment of the EU Patient Right of Avoiding Unnecessary Suffering and Pain", a civic survey on the respect of unnecessary pain patients’ rights in Europe. Read more

22-23 May 2013, Maastricht: European Public Health “20 years of the Maastricht Treaty – Turning past experiences into visions”
The conference takes place at the Statenzaal at the Province of Limburg as the perfect venue for this event because of its history of hosting the signature of the Maastricht Treaty. Read more