04/06/2019
The 2011 Cross‐border Healthcare Directive seeks to ensure
EU patients’ rights to access safe and high‐quality
healthcare, including across national borders within the EU.
These rights are also intended to facilitate closer
cooperation between Member States on eHealth and the
treatment of rare diseases. We concluded that although EU
actions in cross-border healthcare enhance Member States’
collaboration, the benefits for patients were limited. We
found that despite the progress made on providing EU
citizens with information on cross-border healthcare, in
some areas this information remains difficult to access. We
identified weaknesses in the Commission’s strategic
planning and project management. We make
recommendations focusing on the Commission’s support
for National Contact Points, the deployment of cross-border
exchanges of health data, and EU’s actions in the field of
rare diseases.
Special report no 07/2019: EU actions for cross-border healthcare: significant ambitions but improved management required
3 MB