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Tito Moura has been a successful singer in Spain for many years.

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His most precious souvenir, probably this gold disc.

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The very first to be awarded in Spain.

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When he listens to the old songs, it's always with a little bit of nostalgia for the past.

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A time before one of the most difficult periods of his life.

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They didn't put me on a waiting list to have my liver transplanted,

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and I died in three months.

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In some countries the organisation of getting organ donors is more efficient than in other countries.

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But obviously it has to do with how the healthcare system is organised,

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what are the beliefs among the population, what are the ethical values in a society.

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But we have seen in some countries that the organ donation rates can be dramatically improved by systematic action.

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In fact, 15 years ago, Spain, which is now way out at the top of the statistics,

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was right down near the bottom of the European class.

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But Spain has since created a national transplant organisation,

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which has developed an efficient strategy.

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It's a pragmatic approach.

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A potential donor is usually someone who is declared officially brain dead in a hospital situation.

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That means the organs can be kept alive artificially for a certain period in intensive care.

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From that moment on, the hospital coordinator plays a crucial role,

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as this specialist lung transplant surgeon explains.

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Through this system, backed up by public information campaigns,

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Spain has gone from 500 donor organs a year in 1989 to 1,500 today,

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which is what excited the interest of the European Union.

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It would like to see other member states achieve the same increase in their organ donation,

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and so it was decided to organise a wide-scale consultation on the subject.

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Europe is very much about learning from each other,

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and in this case we can show that there are countries who are doing very well,

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and we hope that we can, at European level,

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transfer the best practices from one country to another country.

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We are now listening to all stakeholders in different countries

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and trying to get the answer to a question that what would be the best way forward.

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But all the countries, including those which are leading the field in organ donation,

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still come up against another problem, a chronic shortage of available organs.

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One possible response would be to share national resources across borders.

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That's what some countries are already doing, linked by different organisations.

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One example is the Eurotransplant Foundation in Rotterdam.

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For its part, the European Union has been working closely with the European Union

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on the issue of organ donation.

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One example is the Eurotransplant Foundation in Rotterdam.

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For its director, the cross-border sharing of available organs offers distinct advantages.

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The major advantage of cross-border changes is that people that need a transplant

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only benefit from people with an organ that fits,

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and it is very difficult to find an organ that fits well,

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and if you have a larger donor pool, the chance that you find a fitting organ is greater.

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That's why if countries cooperate,

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the chance that you find a good organ is greater than when you stay alone.

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And that is why, within Eurotransplant, 20% of all organs cross borders.

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And within the rest of Europe, it's only 2%.

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Eurotransplant was created 40 years ago by a group of doctors,

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and these days covers Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Slovenia.

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24 hours a day, these six countries keep in touch with each other's needs

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and monitor the possibilities of organ exchanges.

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The system is an example of what could become a real European exchange network.

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I do not see that it would be very difficult to create a Europe

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where one would cooperate in the area of organ exchange.

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The fact that it has existed for 40 years

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and that there are even countries that are interested in further cooperation with Eurotransplant

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seems to me that it's a successful formula.

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It remains to be seen if a big exchange network on a European scale

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is technically feasible or is just a dream,

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considering that a transplant must be carried out in a very short time.

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Regional cooperation is obviously the first thing to start with,

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but of course when the technology evolves and the transportation system improves,

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there are possibilities to work more Europe-wide.

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In the end, so that all Europeans have the same chance of benefiting from a transplant,

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national procedures need to be improved to identify the maximum number of potential donors.

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Learning from the experiences of the more advanced countries.

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But cross-border exchanges also need to be increased.

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As for Tito, every day he thinks about the luck he had to have been given a transplant in time.

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He's produced a record with a number of other singers to support organ donation.

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A means, he says, of saying thank you

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and of promoting, in his own way, what is really a gift of life.