EU law and health policy in Europe
Julia Lear and EliasMossialos
The Health Policy Bulletin of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
Volume 10, Number 3 - 2008
Available online PDF [12p.] at: http://www.euro.who.int/Document/OBS/EuroObserver_Autumn2008.pdf
“”…..Although Member States retain the primary responsibility for organization and delivery of health services under Article 152 of the EC Treaty, this policy space is still shaped by Community law and policy. The Community did not have legal authority in the field of public health until 1999, when the public health article was amended and renumbered by the Treaty of Amsterdam as the current Article 152. Treaty Article 152 defines the role of the EU as complementing national policies, sets out procedures by which the EU institutions may act in the health field, and delineates the types of measures that may be enacted, but explicitly bars the use of harmonization. Thus, the EU is limited to establishing public health programmes and incentives for preferred health policies.
Although the EU has no formal legal powers to enact Community health care legislation, several different policy domains influence health policy, including principally: internal market, social affairs, public health, enterprise and economic policy. This diffusion of health care governance raises several complications. Without direct authority, there is no clear hierarchy for health policy decision-making. There are also the twin problems of accountability and transparency. Without a unified body of health legislation, independent bodies attempting to monitor, analyze, and report on the effectiveness of EU health policies must assemble a diverse body of legal documents and chase after a dispersed group of officials.
Similarly, determining the scope of Europeans’ rights to health care requires a search through the Treaty, the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Social Charter, as well as a number of conventions governing everything from food safety to privacy to environmental protection….
Contents
- EU law and health policy in
- Public procurement and State aids in public health care systems
- Competition law and health services
- Internal market rules and regulation of private health insurance: threat or opportunity?
- The European pharmaceutical market: An expanding tool kit?
- Cross-border services
The Observatory is a partnership between the WHO Regional Office for Europe, the Governments of Belgium,
* * *
This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues. [DD/ KMS Area]
“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PAHO/WHO Website
Equity List - Archives - Join/remove: http://listserv.paho.org/Archives/equidad.html
IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email to infosec@paho.org, and please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment