Health card to ease travel for EU citizens

A health card that will help European Union citizens claim free urgent treatment when they holiday, work or travel in 25 countries will be unveiled today.

The size of a credit card, it will come into use next year, replacing the documents people are expected to take when they holiday within the EU. It will be used to prove to hospitals across the continent that the carrier is entitled to treatment.

At present British citizens can claim urgent health care in EU countries but are expected to carry the E111 form. When the health card comes into force on 1 June 2004 it will be accepted in the existing 15 EU member states and the 10 nations joining a month earlier.

The scheme, launched by Anna Diamantopoulou, the European commissioner for social affairs, is part of a wider effort to boost mobility within the EU while forging a greater European identity.

Demand for the card is expected to be heavy in the UK. A recent survey showed that 52 per cent of Britons who took holidays said they spent more than four days a year in another EU country. The average for people across the EU member states is 44 per cent.