Suchergebnisse

As a result of the case-law of the Court of Justice, national systems of social security and health care can no longer neglect cross-border aspects as patients start behaving as consumers looking for the 'best medical treatment' at the 'highest possible rate' of reimbursement. A Member State cannot prevent its patients taking advantage of more advanced medical treatment or better organised care systems in another Member State unless it can justify such a limitation to patients' mobility rights on the basis of the need to maintain high-quality medical resources and a financially stable healthcare system. Authorisation for treatment abroad cannot be refused solely because there are waiting lists on the national territory. The Court's case law has prompted the Commission to include provisions on patient mobility in its proposed 'Bolkestein' Directive on services in the internal market. Whatever may be the fate of that Directive, a legislative codification of the principles outlined in the case law would certainly enhance transparency and legal certainty for all stakeholders.

Ensuring the protection of human rights in Europe has become a highly complex exercise. Where courts are faced with a human rights claim, they not only have to examine the validity of that claim, but also need to have a clear understanding of the human rights catalogue that is to be applied, i.e. human rights as guaranteed by the national constitution, human rights as protected under EU law, based or not on the Charter, and human rights as identified in the European Convention of Human Rights. This book zooms in on various aspects of the interaction between courts in the complex European system of human rights protection. While other books take either a European or a national approach, this book studies both the co-existence between the ECtHR and the ECJ, and the impact of this dual mechanism of European human rights protection on the protection offered within specific EU Member States. This makes it valuable for academics and practitioners specialised in either fundamental rights, EU law or constitutional law