The member States of the Council of Europe, Parties to the European Agreement of 17
October 1980 concerning the Provision of Medical
Care to Persons during Temporary
Residence, signatory hereto,
Having regard to Article 20, paragraph 1 of the said Agreement;
Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between
its members for the purpose, inter alia, of facilitating their social progress;
Being desirous of introducing in their mutual relations provisions for the application of
the Agreement,
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
For the purposes of this Arrangement:
- the term "Agreement" means the European Agreement concerning the Provision of
Medical Care to Persons during Temporary
Residence, opened for signature by any European
State in Geneva on 17 October 1980;
- the term "Arrangement" means this Arrangement for the application of the
Agreement;
- the term "Party" means any State party to this Arrangement;
- the terms defined in Article 1 of the Agreement have the meanings given them in that
article.
Article 2
- The competent authorities of the Parties may designate liaison bodies empowered to
communicate directly with one another; these
bodies may also communicate with the
institutions of any Party.
- Any institution of a Party may approach the institution of another Party either
directly, or through the liaison bodies.
- The competent authorities, the liaison bodies and the institutions of the Parties shall
communicate with one another in their
respective official languages or, if the competent
authorities of two or more Parties have so agreed, in another language.
Article 3
- Annex 1 names the competent authority or authorities of each Party.
- Annex 2 names:
- the liaison bodies designated by the competent authorities of the Parties pursuant to
Article 2, paragraph 1, of this Arrangement;
- the Parties whose institutions must be approached through the liaison bodies.
- Annex 3 names the competent institutions of each Party.
- Annex 4 names the institutions of the place of temporary residence of each Party.
- Annex 5 lists the provisions referred to in Article 5, sub-paragraph b, of this
Arrangement.
- Annex 6 contains the certificate referred to in Article 6, paragraph 1, of this
Arrangement.
- Annex 7 names the Parties whose legislation is referred to in Article 6, paragraph 3, of
this Arrangement, indicating for each
of these Parties the document taking the place of
the certificate of entitlement to medical care, as well as the Parties willing
to admit
this document as proof of entitlement to medical care.
- Annex 8 lists the agreements concluded between Parties within the framework of Article 6
of the Agreement.
- Annex 9 names the Parties whose competent institutions shall refund costs in accordance
with the provisions of Article 9, paragraph
2, of this Arrangement.
Article 4
- Each Contracting State shall forward to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe
the information to be included in Annexes
1 to 5, 7, 8 and 9 of this Arrangement at the
time either of signature without reservation as to ratification, acceptance or
approval or
of deposit of the instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval.
- Each Party shall communicate to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe any
change in the information concerning it in
Annexes 1 to 5, 7, 8 and 9 of this Arrangement.
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall notify the other Parties of any
communication received in accordance
with the previous sub-paragraph.
- Changes in the information contained in Annexes 5, 7 and 8 of this Arrangement shall be
deemed to be approved by all Parties concerned
if none of them objects within two months
of their notification by the Secretary General.
- The annexes referred to in Article 3, and any amendments made to these annexes, shall be
an integral part of this Arrangement.
Article 5
In the relations between Parties, this Arrangement shall replace:
- provisions for the application of such provisions in the conventions on social security
as are listed in Annex II of the Agreement;
- provisions for the application of such provisions in the conventions on social security
as are not listed in Annex II of the
Agreement, provided these provisions for application
are listed in Annex 5 of this Arrangement by mutual agreement between
the competent
authorities of the Parties concerned.
Article 6
- The certificate referred to in Article 5, paragraph 2, of the Agreement shall be issued
by the competent institution at the request
of the person concerned. It shall be valid for
such maximum duration as it specifies.
- In order to receive the medical care provided for in Article 4, paragraph 1, of the
Agreement, the person concerned shall present
the certificate referred to in the preceding
paragraph of this article and, where appropriate, submit a copy thereof either to
the
institution of the place of temporary residence, or directly to the provider of the care
at the place of temporary residence,
as the case may be.
- Where the person concerned is resident in the territory or a national of a Party whose
legislation is of the kind referred to
in Article 5, paragraph 3, of the Agreement, he may
present, instead of the certificate referred to in paragraph 1 of this article,
his social
security card, passport or another identity document recognised as equivalent, within the
duration of their validity,
provided he is in the territory of another Party willing to
admit such document as proof of entitlement to medical care. In such
a case, the person
concerned shall be required to indicate to the institution of the place of temporary
residence his exact
permanent address, as well as the name and address of the competent
institution by which he is covered.
- If the person concerned cannot submit at the appropriate time the certificate referred
to in paragraph 1 of this article or one
of the documents referred to in the preceding
paragraph of this article the institution of the place of temporary residence shall
without delay ask the competent institution to issue the certificate or to confirm that
the person concerned is entitled
to medical care under the legislation which the latter
institution applies.
- The benefits referred to in Article 4, paragraph 2, of the Agreement shall include the
prosthetic appliances, major aids and other
major benefits in kind which have been
specified by mutual agreement by the competent authorities of the Parties. In cases of
absolute urgency, the institution of the place of temporary residence shall immediately
notify the competent institution
that these benefits have been provided. This notification
shall be accompanied by a detailed account of the reasons for their
provision and shall
include an estimate of the probable cost. The same information shall be sent in the case
of a request
for authorisation normally required in respect of the said benefits. In the
latter case, the competent institution shall have
fifteen days from the day on which such
request is sent within which to raise any objection and state the reasons on which such
objection is based. If, on the expiry of that period, no such objection has been raised,
the institution of the place of
temporary residence shall provide the benefits.
- In the case referred to in Article 4, paragraph 3, of the Agreement, failing an
agreement on repatriation, the institution of
the place of temporary residence shall
inform, if it considers this to be appropriate, the consular authority of the Party in
whose territory the person concerned is resident, with a view to making the necessary
arrangements for his repatriation.
Article 7
The reimbursements referred to in Article 6, paragraphs 2 and 3, of the Agreement shall
be effected through the competent authorities
or the liaison bodies or directly between
the institutions concerned, for each half-year if the amount to be refunded is determined
on the basis of the proven actual expenditure and for each year if the amount to be
refunded is determined on a lump-sum basis.
In the latter case, the payment of advances
may be agreed between the competent authorities, the liaison bodies or the institutions
of
the Parties concerned.
Article 8
The competent authorities of each Party shall prepare leaflets for the purpose of
informing the persons concerned of the steps to
be taken in accordance with the provisions
of Article 6, paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Arrangement in order to receive medical care
during temporary residence in the territory of any other Party. In appropriate cases,
instructions to this end shall be added
to the certificate referred to in Article 6,
paragraph 1, of this Arrangement.
Article 9
- If the formalities provided for in Article 6, paragraphs 2 and 3, of this Arrangement
could not be complied with during the temporary
residence of the person concerned in the
territory of a Party other than the competent State, the costs incurred by the person
concerned shall be refunded to him, at his request, by the competent institution according
to the tariffs of reimbursement
applied by the institution of the place of temporary
residence. The institution of the place of temporary residence shall furnish
the necessary
information on these tariffs to the competent institution if it so requires.
- However, the competent institution may refund costs incurred by the person concerned at
its charge according to the tariffs of
the legislation that it applies.
Article 10
The claims, declarations, appeals and other papers submitted to an authority, a liaison
body, an institution or other organ of a
Party with a view to the application of this
Arrangement shall not be rejected on the ground that they are drafted in a foreign
language if that language is an official language of another Party.
Article 11
- This Arrangement shall be open for signature by the member States of the Council of
Europe Parties to the Agreement, which may
express their consent to be bound by:
- signature without reservation in respect of ratification, acceptance or approval;
- signature subject to ratification, acceptance or approval, followed by ratification,
acceptance or approval.
- Instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
Article 12
- This Arrangement shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the
expiration of a period of one month after
the date on which two member States of the
Council of Europe have expressed their consent to be bound by the Arrangement in
accordance with the provisions of Article 11.
- In respect of any member State which subsequently expresses its consent to be bound by
it, the Arrangement shall enter into force
on the first day of the month following the
expiration of a period of one month after the date of signature or of the deposit
of the
instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval.
Article 13
- After the entry into force of this Arrangement, the Committee of Ministers of the
Council of Europe may invite any State not a
member of the Council, Party to the
Agreement, to accede to this Arrangement, by a decision taken by the majority provided for
in Article 20.d of the Statute of the Council of Europe and by the unanimous vote of the
representatives of the Contracting
States entitled to sit on the Committee.
- In respect of any acceding State, the Arrangement shall enter into force on the first
day of the month following the expiration
of a period of one month after the date of
deposit of the instrument of accession with the Secretary General of the Council of
Europe.
Article 14
- This Arrangement shall remain in force as long as the Agreement.
- However, any Party may at any time denounce this Arrangement by means of a notification
addressed to the Secretary General of
the Council of Europe. Such denunciation shall take
effect on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period
of six months
after the date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary General of the Council of
Europe.
Article 15
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall notify the member States of the
Council of Europe, the Contracting States not
members of the Council of Europe and the
Director General of the International Labour Office of:
- any signature;
- the deposit of any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession;
- any date of entry into force of this Arrangement in accordance with Articles 12 and 13;
- any notification received in pursuance of the provisions of Article 4, paragraphs 1 and
2;
- any notification received in pursuance of the provisions of Article 14, paragraph 2, and
the date on which the denunciation
takes effect;
- any other act, notification or communication relating to this Arrangement.
In witness whereof the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this
Arrangement.
Done at Strasbourg, this 26th day of May 1988, in English and French, both texts being
equally authentic, in a single copy which
shall be deposited in the archives of the
Council of Europe. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall transmit certified
copies to each member State of the Council of Europe, to the Director General of the
International Labour Office and to any State
invited to accede to this Arrangement.
