European Union Public Health Policy

Ranging from influence over world trade laws affecting health to population health issues such as obesity to the use of comparative data to affect policy, the EU’s public health policies are increasingly important, visible, expensive and effective. They also provide an invaluable case study for those who want to understand the growth and impact of the EU as well as how states can affect their populations’ lives and health. European Union Public Health Policy capitalizes on extensive new research, providing an introduction to the topic and indicating new intellectual directions surrounding the topic. An introductory section and extended conclusion explore the meaning of public health, the relationship of EU public health policy to health care policy, and the place of public health in the study of European integration and Europeanization. Focusing on health system transformation, global health governance and population health, the chapters address: Relevant policy issues and EU policies; Effects of the EU policies on practice or outcomes; An explanation of the policy trajectory; Current issues and likely future directions or conflicts. Drawing together an international and multidisciplinary selection of experts, this volume is an important contribution for all those interested in public health policy, EU health policy and EU governance.

‘This is an exceptional book. It combines the conceptual framework of Europeanization studies with an analysis of real policies and of the public health concerns that justify them. In doing so, it provides a clear account of how public health policy is made in the EU context and of what is at stake in this under-researched policy sector. It is the first book that goes beyond the classical question of bargaining between the EU and the member states, to define the overarching issue of EU policies within the context of economic and epidemiological globalization. A must for students, researchers and practitioners in international policy and public health.’ – Monika Steffen, CNRS, Institute of Political Studies, Grenoble University, France.‘How have Europeanization processes affected the big public health questions of the 21st century – such as tobacco control, access to essential medicines, cancer care, and obesity? This timely and historically-grounded book is focused on the European Union’s public health policies, in the context of the impact of its economic policies on public health. The book explains where the EU’s actions, in global trade rules affecting health care, in shaping national health systems, and in addressing select public health issues, have had the greatest effects on policy and practice. This discussion forms the basis of a call for a greater practical transparency, and hence democratic oversight, of the very real effects of EU public health policy.’ – Professor Tamara Hervey, Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law, University of Sheffield, UK.

Scott L. Greer is Associate Professor of Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health, USA, and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at LSE Health, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. Paulette Kurzer is Professor of Political Science in the School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona, USA.