The 2008 EP Resolution ‘Policy actions at EU level’

This important piece of EU policy setting focuses on two key areas: a) the development of quality and safety requirements for the whole process of organ donation, allocation and transplantation across the EU, and b) legal and other measures to combat and prevent illegal commercial organ transplants and human trafficking for organ removal. The preamble to this Resolution stated that, while there is a steady increase in the need for transplants, there is no corresponding increase in the number of donors, which leads to a chronic organ shortage and growing waiting lists, as well as patients dying on the waiting list. This shortage must be considered an important root cause of the rapid development of organ trafficking, commercialism and transplant tourism, although there is a lack of data to understand this link. The Resolution confirms that trafficking in organs is a serious violation of fundamental human rights and dignity and is becoming an increasing global as well as a European problem. It also points out that commercial transplants present a health risk to both the donors and the recipients. Furthermore, it criticises certain member states for failing to ratify international and European conventions against THB. The main part of the Resolution focuses on the need for a Directive to ensure quality and safety requirements for organ donation and allocation across the EU to be implemented into national legislation of the member states. The EP points out that the EU member states are responsible for their national legal system for organ donation (opt-in or opt-out), but underlines the basic principle that organ donation stays strictly non-commercial. In total 60 action points are identified and described. Action points 1-48 relate to increasing the quality, safety and supply of transplantable organs, and ask for a comprehensive legislative framework and instruments to meet these targets.

Action points 49-59 focus specifically on organ trafficking. The main proposals for action here are the following:

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The need to ensure that organ donations stay strictly non-commercial (action point 21)

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Adopt strict legal provisions relating to donation from unrelated living donors, in order to exclude illicit organ selling or coercion of donors (action point 23)

92 _{European Parliament Resolution of 22 April 2008 on Organ Donation and Transplantation: Policy Actions at EU Level} (2007/2210 (INI)).

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Develop a code of conduct setting out rules whereby organs donated by (deceased) EU donors may be allocated to non-EU residents (action point 32)

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To avoid - in communication concerning organ donation - using economic terminology which suggests that organs may be treated as a commodity of the internal market (action point 38)

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To universally ban and fight the practice of organ and tissue trafficking (action point 50)

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Mechanisms of traceability should be put in place to prevent illicitly retrieved organs from entering the EU (action point 51)

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Measures should be taken to prevent transplant tourism, and to protect the poorest and most vulnerable groups and individuals from becoming trafficking victims (action point 52)

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Member states are urged to amend their criminal codes to ensure prosecution of perpetrators of organ trafficking, including medical staff involved in illegal organ transplants (action points 53 and 54)

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Potential recipients of trafficked organs and tissues must be actively discouraged from travelling overseas (transplant tourists), among others by making EU citizens criminally liable for commercially obtaining organs outside the EU (extraterritorial jurisdiction) (action point 53)

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Member states should take measures to prevent health professionals from facilitating organ and tissue trafficking (when referring patients to overseas transplant centres) (action point 54)

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Health insurance providers should be prohibited to promote organ trafficking by reimbursing costs incurred in undergoing illicit transplants (action point 54)

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Law enforcement agencies as well as medical staff should be trained to recognise organ trafficking, and report all cases to the police (action point 55)

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Member states are urged to sign and ratify relevant European and international conventions against human trafficking, where in default (action point 56)

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Europol is criticised for not providing up-to-date data on organ selling and trafficking, and is urged to improve monitoring of such cases (action point 57)

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The Action Plan on THB should be updated and measures to specifically combat organ trafficking included (action point 58).

Some observations:

This Resolution is meant to firmly set the agenda for future policy actions but does not have a binding character itself. There is no denying that this Action Plan is very comprehensive and also very ambitious in its aims to improve the quality and safety of organ donation and transplantation, strive for self- sufficiency of member states in meeting their need for transplantable organs, make more effective use of available organ sources, and promote cooperation amongst the member states to achieve all this. The EP is also aware of the fact that failure to meet the demand for organs in the EU region will perpetuate and further increase the risk of organ trafficking and organ tourism. A long-term strategy should be developed to eliminate social and economic inequalities between the EU and the poor regions of the world, as this is the root cause of organ trade and transplant tourism. National anti-trafficking legislation should be toughened up. What catches the eye is that this Resolution advocates a very strict line against (potential) recipients of trafficked organs (transplant tourists): they should be held criminally liable and

prosecuted, if necessary by applying extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). The same strict approach is taken towards health professionals facilitating organ trafficking and tourism and towards insurance providers (intentionally or unintentionally) facilitating transplant tourism. The EP further advocates that all cases of trafficking or transplant tourism be reported to the police. It must be remarked that so far practically no national legislation in the EU contains or supports such actions, and that reporting recipients of commercially obtained organs to the police is widely considered a breach of medical confidentiality among health professionals.

In document Trafficking in human organs (Page 48-50)