Although the European Council agreed on common values such as good quality, universally accessible care in 1996, those values are now under threat. Health expenditure in all European Union (EU) countries between 1996 and 2013 increased from 7·9% to 9·5% of gross domestic product. There is a need to adapt to a financially constrained environment.

WE CARE is an EU Seventh Framework Programme consortium tasked to propose a research and development roadmap for innovative, cost-contained, quality care. The roadmap should not only consider efficacy from clinical trials but also community effectiveness, including the appropriateness of services provided.