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Europeanising health policy in times of coronationalism

02 Nov 2020 - 21:17
Bron: Shutterstock

The COVID-19 crisis has prompted the European Union (EU) to rethink its health policy, or rather those of its policies that influence the health policies of member states, as those largely comprise a national competence, and sometimes a subnational one. During the pandemic, EU institutions and EU member states identified issues where more EU coordination was desirable, for instance with regard to stockpiling and joint purchasing of medical products. Much is still unclear, however, about how a broadly supported revised EU health policy should look, particularly as this has traditionally been a field where EU citizens and EU member states saw little added value in the EU becoming involved. A newly proposed EU4Health programme saw a setback right at its inception, with its proposed funding being cut drastically by the European Council, even though EU health expenditure will continue to rise. This policy brief explores the future of EU health policy after the COVID-19 pandemic changed conventional thinking.

Read policy brief.

Watch online debate ‘The Covid Crisis: what EU Role in Health?

During our annual State of the Union Conference Louise van Schaik and Remco van de Pas hosted an online debate with an excellent panel of speakers: Sarah Wheaton, Senior Health Reporter at Politico, Anniek de Ruijter, Associate Professor Health Law (EU&Global) at the University of Amsterdam and Sylvain Giraud, Head of Unit ‘Medical products: quality, safety and innovation’ in the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission (DG SANTE).

Watch more debates of the State of the Union Conference: Europe caught up in polycrisis? on YouTube

Follow @LouiseVanSchaik@RvandePas and @Clingendaelorg on Twitter.