Access to health care of appropriate quality is a basic benchmark applied in comparative performance evaluation of health care reforms; it represents the human rights dimension of health care that cannot be made dependent on present-day market and economic conditions. Undue delay in access to treatment indicates inappropriate functioning of the system, and, according to European Community norms, it entitles patients to obtain the necessary care in other Member States, covered by the domestic insurance fund. This paper adresses the issues of waiting list management and undue delay in access to treatment, in the light of European norms, with focus on the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice. On the background of opportunities and examples of successful cross-border initiatives already existing in the European Economic Area, it addresses the possibilities of co-operation in the Hungarian- Romanian border region for improving access to health services of appropriate quality.
Keywords: waiting list management, European norms, jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice, cross-border co-operation for improving access to health care