” “"Social and health services. The contribution of the Churches and their affiliated associations to the European social model" was the subject of a meeting that took place on October 18th with the EU Commission, the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of the European Churches (Cec) and the Secretariat of the Bishops Conferences of the European Community (Comece). The meeting focussed on the Services Directive that is being discussed by the EU Parliament, the recent memo of the European Commission for Social Services and the consultation on health services. The Churches insisted on the fact their work as suppliers of social and health services is an essential aspect of their identity and therefore they repeated their position that health services should not be covered by the Services Directive. As to the initiatives of the EU Commission, the Churches placed emphasis on the difficulty of separating social services from health services and wished that a more global approach may be found to tackle this issue, asking the EU Commission to worry as much about the services as about their financial sustainability. Finally, the Churches asked the EU Commission to keep into account ethical principles in the development of the future policies.” “
