On July 2, the European Commission’s (EC) representation in Bulgaria presented its renewed package of initiatives aimed at streamlining policies in the fields of labour unions, internet usage and medical care.

The EC adopted a legislative proposal to improve the role of European Works Councils (EWC) in informing and consulting employees. EWC currently operate in 820 major companies across the EU including in Bulgaria, servicing about 14.5 million employees.

Some 15 per cent of Europeans suffer from a form of disability, and many face barriers such as reading a website's small text or even knowing how to access websites and online services, the EC said in its media statement.

According to the commission, progress in this respect remained limited, as by far the majority of websites fail to use universally accepted user-friendly solutions. Therefore, EC started public consultation on further measures to make websites in the bloc accessible. It started with the websites of the public administrations and invited stakeholders to give their points of view. It also addressed other technologies, including digital television. The consultation is open until August 27, with more information availalbe at the EC's Bulgarian representation.

The third package of measures the EC launched on July 2 were two initiatives to improve the safety and quality of care for people, who require medical assistance while travelling or living abroad. These include a recommendation on cross-border interoperability of electronic health record systems and the smart open services (SOS) project.

“The recommendation aims to provide member states with basic principles and guidelines for ensuring that doctors can gain access to vital information on patients that they are trying to treat, wherever such information may be located in Europe,” the EC said.

Supported by 12 member states and their industry players, the SOS project, co-funded by the EC, would demonstrate the benefits of such interoperability. It will enable health professionals to access specific medical data such as current medications of patients from other EU countries.  “In an emergency, sharing of medical information could save many patients' lives,” the EC said.