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Monthly Newsletter edited by Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network
Civic Activism   |   Patients' Rights   |   Consumers' Rights   |   Support ACN


Year 2th, number 11 - May 28, 2013
Highlight

Health and rights of European citizens
The 7th European patients rights day, celebrated on May 16th in Brussels, has been an occasion for all of us, representatives of national patient organizations, European platforms, EU and national institutions, representatives of healthcare providers and soon, to share our experiences on the directive 2011/24/EU about cross border care and patients' involvement in health policies on a multi-stakeholder basis. Read more
By Antonio Gaudioso, General Secretary of Cittadinanzattiva

Read more:
European Patients' Rights Day: 10 benefits the EU brings to patients

Focus

Pain: report on respect of patients' rights among the Europe
During the Focus Group “Chronic Pain in the EU Working Population” on May 15th in the European Parliament, Pain Alliance Europe and Active Citizenship Network presented "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. Download the Report and presentation.

Read more:

Pain: the importance of involving professionals
By Joop van Griensven, President Pain Alliance Europe   

Italy: Charter of Rights against unnecessary pain

A Pained Life: Pain Patients Need to be Heard

News
Patients' Rights

Proposed EU Health For Growth Program (2014-2020)
The EU proposal is a new health program to help EU countries respond effectively to economic and demographic challenges facing their health systems and enable their citizens to stay healthy for longer. The program would help fund: a) the uptake of innovative solutions to improve healthcare provision; b) pooling of resources and know-how between EU countries to address common problems, while enabling national governments to retain control over their own healthcare systems. Read more

Citizens in Poor EU States Can’t Afford Medicines, Health Promoters Say
According to European health promoters, as a consequence of the global economic crisis, many Europeans, especially those in poorer EU states, cannot afford access to treatments. Read more

Consumers' Rights

European Ombudsman annual Report
The European Ombudsman dealt with more than 30000 complaints and opened almost 3500 investigations into alleged maladministration in the EU administration during his ten years in office. In 2012 alone, he received 2442 complaints (2510 in 2011) and opened a record number of 465 inquiries (396 in 2011). Most of the 2012 inquiries were about lack of transparency (21,5%), including refusal to release documents or information. Download the Report

Italy: 90 municipalities under the European infringement procedure for sewerage systems
In Italy, in the region of Calabria, 90 municipalities are well below the EU infringement procedure because they do not have adequate sewage systems, they do not provide an effective system of purification or do not take into account the size of the plants and load variations related to tourism flows, especially during the summer months. Detects it the report 'Treatment in Calabria: Time (almost) expired” made by three Italian organizations protecting the rights: Legambiente, Cittadinanzattiva and National Union of Consumers. Dowload the Report (Italian version)

Environment: Europe’s bathing waters continue to improve
Ninety-four per cent of bathing sites in the European Union meet minimum standards for water quality, according to the European Environment Agency's annual report on bathing water quality in Europe. Water quality is excellent at 78 % of sites and almost 2 % more sites meet the minimum requirements compared to last year's report. Read more

Bank accounts: Commission acts to make bank accounts cheaper, more transparent and accessible to all
The European Commission proposes a Directive on the transparency and comparability of payment account fees, payment account switching and access to a basic payment account. Improving the transparency and comparability of fees together with a smoother switching process should enable consumers to benefit from better offers and lower costs for their bank accounts. At the same time, the financial services industry will benefit from increased mobility of clients, with reduced barriers to entry, including cross-border. Read more

Commission proposes upgrade for 300 key seaports
The European Commission has launched a new initiative to improve port operations and onward transport connections at 319 key seaports along Europe’s coastline. The guidelines and legal changes being proposed will help port operators upgrade their services and facilities as well as giving them more financial autonomy. Read more

Good practices concerning mobility from a civic point of view
In your city is taking place a good practice in terms of public transport and sustainable mobility? Participate in the collection of good practices initiated in Europe as part of the Mobility. The best experiences will be brought to the attention of the European institutions at the end of 2013. Do you want to report on Good Practice? Read More. Sign in database

Civic Activism

EU Citizenship: Commission proposes 12 new actions to boost citizens' rights
On May 8th, the European Commission has unveiled a new push to reinforce EU citizens’ rights with a series of actions to tackle obstacles that citizens still face in their everyday life. The 2013 EU Citizenship Report sets out 12 concrete ways to help Europeans make better use of their EU rights, from looking for a job in another EU country to ensure stronger participation in the democratic life of the Union. Key proposals include making it easier for people to work and do training in another EU country; reducing excessive paperwork for EU citizens living and travelling in the EU; and eliminating barriers to cross-border shopping. Read more

ACN project identified as one of these 30 good practice in UE
The project implemented by Active Citizenship Network "Future active citizens: volunteering as an exercise of democracy" has been identified as one of these 30 good practice projects in the field of Active European Citizenship by the E.N.T.E.R. (European Network for Transfer and Exploitation of EU-Project Results) on behalf of the European Commission. The project will be presented during the European Conference from 26-27 June 2013 in London, UK. Read more

Events

3 June 2013, Brussels: Crowd funding, Untapping its potential, reducing the risks
Crowd funding in Europe: what drives its growth and what are the obstacles to it? How to ensure the integrity of these models of crowd funding and protect contributors? The European Commission, DG Internal Market and Services is organizing a workshop to explore these issues and more related to crowd funding. Read more

3-4 June 2013, Brussels: Transnational Summit on Trustworthy Use of Data for Health
This initiative, organized by The International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA),   is focused on stimulating robust discussions about health data reuse at the global level. Several stakeholder-specific engagements and events are being planned throughout 2013. Read more

13 June 2013, Istanbul: Taking down barriers: Helping Turkey fight chronic disease
The event is promoted by the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) and AIFD and it will host interventions of international experts and civic associations, including Active Citizenship Network. To learn more, download the report “Transforming Health in Turkey

21 June 2013, Dublin (Ireland) and Vilnius (Lithuania): Food for citizens
The European Economic and Social Committee, together with local partners, will be holding a conference on "Food for citizens – from a common agricultural policy to a common food policy". The event will bring two distant cities, Dublin and Vilnius, together in a debate and will give you – wherever you might be in the world – an opportunity to join the conference online. Read more

24-25 June 2013, Brussels: Citizens’ Summit
The Citizen’s Summit is organized by a cross-sectorial coalition of NGO actors (The European Public Health Alliance and eight platforms forming the Civil Society Contact Group), with the goal of bringing together for the first time professionals, practitioners and activists from across different sectors (culture, development, education, environment, health, human rights, social affairs and women’s rights) to discuss the future of Europe. Read more

 

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

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