Intensifying cooperation in health care – Standing Committee meets European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy at its session in Brussels
The Standing Committee came together for its first session of the year at the premises of the European Parliament in Brussels on 23 January by the invitation of Jorn Dohrmann, the European Parliament’s new Chair of the Delegation for relations with Switzerland and Norway and to the EU-Iceland Joint Parliamentary Committee and the European Economic Area (EEA) Joint Parliamentary Committee. The meeting was chaired by Sylvia Bretschneider, President of the Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and this years BSPCs Chairperson. Members from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, the Russian Federation, Denmark, Finland, the Åland Islands, Norway, Sweden, the German Bundestag, the Baltic Assembly, and the Nordic Council attended the meeting.
Traditionally, the Standing Committee opens the year with a round of progress reports and briefings by experts and BSR stakeholders, aiming to increase BSR visibility at the European level and closer aligning BSPC actions with European policy. The main presentation of the day was given by the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, Mr. Vytenis Andriukaitis. With a view to cross-border health threats, the Commissioner strongly emphasized the need to cooperation, particularly in border areas, putting a strong focus on joint initiatives with the EU’s eastern neighbors. Mr. Andriukaitis welcomed that idea behind the BSPC’s 24th annual conference, with its main focus on innovation in social and healthcare.
The Standing Committee also received a progress report from the Chair of the CBSS Committee of Senior Officials, Raul Mälk. Mr. Mälk outlined the priorities of the Estonian presidency and provided details on the CBSS’s streamlining process that effectively changes the organization’s priorities from five to three (Regional Identity, a Sustainable and Prosperous Region and thirdly a Safe and Secure Region). The CBSS also welcomed the resolution from Olsztyn, particularly with a view to coherence in BSR cooperation, youth affairs, environmental legacy, cultural heritage, and innovation in social and healthcare.
The members were also briefed by the Director of the Secretariat of the Northern Dimension, Mr. Marek Maciejowski. Mr. Maciejowski proposed to hold a NDPHS event back-to-back with the 24th BSPC conference in Rostock-Warnemünde. The aim of the event would be to present the latest evidence regarding the importance of health for economy and other sectors of the society, and to show the examples of policy measures in the field of health leading to savings and benefitting economies in general. The Standing Committee welcomed the proposal but will still have to give formal approval. Furthermore, the Chairman of the meeting, Mrs Sylvia Bretschneider, expressed her concern over an initial proposal from the European Commission’s DG Regio to take the policy field “health” out of the EUSBSR Action Plan. She intends to initiate a formal statement of the Standing Committee on this issue.
Finally, the members were briefed by the chairman of the ScanBalt network, Wolfgang Blank. ScanBalt is a network composed of the health and bio economy communities in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden, northern Germany, northern Netherlands and north-western Russia, which is a non-governmental, member-based, non-profit organization located in Denmark with the primary goal of promoting the development of ScanBalt BioRegion as a globally competitive health and bio economy.
The meeting otherwise decided to task a political scientist with the scientific evaluation of the follow-up responses of the governments to past resolutions of the BSPC. The Standing Committee also discussed the topic of a future Working Group and the possible appointment of a Rapporteur on Cultural Affairs. Furthermore, the Standing Committee approved the Financial Report for 2014, as well as the use of the means for 2015. Chairman Sylvia Bretschneider also briefed the members on the preparations for the annual conference in Warnemünde. Finally, the BSPC co-rapporteur on Integrated Maritime Policy, Jochen Schulte, updated the SC members on new developments since his written report from August 2014.