Travelling abroad for pleasure, education, or work has become a natural part of life for many European citizens. All across Europe, more than 400 million visits to other countries were estimated for 2006 alone.
Mobility of people is increasing, products and services can be bought in another Member State when the need arises, but obtaining healthcare outside their residence country is still problematic for many Europeans.
And this in spite of the legal framework for healthcare provision across Member States having been set up already in 1971 by the EU and its Member States with the so-called E-forms. In 2004 this procedure was improved through the introduction of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which should allow every citizen who is insured through the public health system equal access to healthcare in another Member State when in need. However, knowledge about this is not widely spread, and the administrative processes accompanying cross-Member State provision of healthcare have not developed at the same pace as leisure travel and labour mobility.
