I have high blood pressure and the daily tablet has become a necessity I cannot live without. Yes, I know that loosing five to ten kilos combined with vigorous daily exercise would help too and in the end I might not need any pills, but I haven't got that far yet.
Usually, when I am in Finland I go and see my doctor to stock up on these tablets so that I don't run out. Last time I visited my country of birth, there were several news articles about a new EU directive which says that a prescription given in one EU country is valid in all EU member states providing that you have asked your doctor to give you an EU prescription.
That is worth trying, I thought and promptly got one.
This morning I realised that I have only five tablets left and therefore, it will be necessary to go to a pharmacy here in Genoa. I assumed that there might be problems: perhaps it needs to be translated in Italian? Perhaps this type of medicine is not sold here? Perhaps I need all sorts of documents to prove that this is a genuine prescription? Armed with the correct vocabulary and ready to explain, I went to the nearest pharmacy.
The pharmacist took the prescription and nodded.
He went to get the tablets.
He went to get the tablets.
I paid and left. Time elapsed: 5 minutes.
Perhaps people advocating against the EU forget this type of little benefits the EU membership brings to ordinary citizens. For once, someone out there in that big bunker in Brussels has been thinking about practical problems faced by millions of EU citizens and got it right!
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