Скачать или смотреть Towards a European Health Union - What Role for Member States?

"Towards a European Health Union - What Role for Member States?" - presentation by Dr Mary Guy, 16 December 2020 at Health in Europe.

Abstract:
Calls for a European Health Union in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have been growing over several months, and given greater impetus recently following reference in Commission President Von der Leyen’s inaugural State of the Union address, with suggestions that Treaty change may be necessary.

Elaborating what a European Health Union looks like, and can achieve, is no small task, yet some common themes are starting to emerge. Two considerations are whether the current legal frameworks are fit-for-purpose, and whether the interaction between the EU and Member States needs to be reviewed.

This presentation discusses my recent EJRR opinion piece examining Article 168(7) Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which outlines the Member State competence vis-à-vis national health policy and healthcare system organisation. This provision has arguably also contributed to perceptions that initial EU-level responses to COVID-19 were limited.

However, there has also existed a ‘counter narrative’, suggesting that various aspects of EU-level activity has challenged this possible predominance of Member State protection of their healthcare systems. This has emerged in connection with competition policy, and more notably, in connection with the European Semester economic policy assessments.

This opinion piece provides an original assessment of Article 168(7) TFEU to argue that Treaty change to redress the balance between EU and Member State competence regarding national healthcare systems may be uncalled for given both the flexibility afforded by the provision and the complexity and diversity of Member State healthcare systems.