05/18/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/18/2022 06:37
The EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) has today sent a supplementary letter of formal notice to Norway over national rules that restrict people's rights to seek hospital treatment in other EEA States.
ESA in 2019 decided to refer Norway to the EFTA Court over Norwegian rules that restrict people's rights to seek hospital treatment in other EEA States. Such treatment is a right guaranteed by EEA rules. The decision to refer Norway to the EFTA Court followed an infringement procedure launched in 2014 after ESA had received numerous complaints about the Norwegian restrictions.
The supplementary letter of formal notice is being sent following new information received by ESA while preparing its application to the EFTA Court. This is in addition to further information received from the Norwegian authorities in June 2021, as well as changes to Norwegian law after ESA decided to refer Norway to the EFTA Court.
During its case work, ESA reviewed more than 200 administrative decisions, which revealed that EEA rules had in practice not been applied correctly or considered.
In ESA's view, the Norwegian Patients' Rights Act does not meet the requirements of EEA rules in a number of areas, for example:
ESA takes note of a legislative proposal of 1 April 2022, which may alleviate some of the above problems. In the spirit of open communication with the Norwegian government, ESA addresses the proposal and indicates that a number of concerns would remain if it were adopted.
Following the issuance of today's letter of formal notice, Norway now has two months to express its views, before ESA decides how to take the case forward.
Read the supplementary letter of formal notice here.