The European Community (EC) and Transplantation
The European Commission adopted a Communication (report) on 30 May 2007, which identifies the major policy challenges in respect to organ donation and transplantation. These include ensuring quality and safety for human organs, increasing organ availability, and enhancing the efficiency and accessibility of transplantation systems in the EU Member States.
The Commission intends to act in response to these challenges in the areas where there is a clear added value for EU initiatives. The results of an open consultation launched by the Commission demonstrated the wide support for these measures.
The communication entails two mechanisms of action: an action plan for strengthened coordination between Member States and an EU legal instrument on quality and safety of organ donation and transplantation.
The action plan will be based on the identification and development of common objectives, agreed quantitative and qualitative indicators and benchmarks, regular reporting, and identification and exchange of best practices. The envisioned EU legal instrument, based on Article 152 of the EC Treaty, will complement the cooperation approach taken under the action plan by providing an appropriate and flexible European legal framework.
Click here to read the Communication (PDF - requires Acrobat Reader or equivalent software - 51 kB).
Click here to read the NKF’s submission to the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Union concerning the EC’s Communication Organ Donation and Transplantation.
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