Everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-European-Union-health-policies-but-were-afraid-to-ask

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The EU: institutions, processes and powers 21 “integration clause” requiring health protection to be ensured in all EU policies and activities, 31 but this does not in itself provide a basis for additional measures. There are also some additional and unusual tools provided in Article 168. One is the power for the Council of Ministers to adopt recommendations in support of the objectives of the Article. These recommendations are non-binding legal acts; while these are not exactly the most powerful of instruments, they have been used to good effect in the health area, such as establishing a European commitment to cancer screening. 32 Another unusual power is the provision for Member States to coordinate their own policies on areas too sensitive for legislation or outside their scope, working through “the establishment of guidelines and indicators, the organization of exchange of best practice, and the preparation of the necessary elements for periodic monitoring and evaluation”. 33 This type of non-legislative cooperation (otherwise known as the OMC) has been mostly applied in the social policy area; so far it has not been widely used in the health area. Environment As set by the treaties, the EU has broad objectives for the environment, which includes health: 34 1. Union policy on the environment shall contribute to pursuit of the following objectives: preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment, protecting human health, prudent and rational utilisation of natural resources, promoting measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems, and in particular combating climate change (emphasis added). The powers to achieve this objective are wide ranging (unlike the health article), although they require unanimity in the Council for some topics such as town and county planning and measures affecting the general structure of energy supply for a country. 35 Like health, environment also has an “integration clause”, 31 TFEU, Article 168, paragraph 1; see also Article 9. 32 Council of the European Union. Council recommendation 2003/878/EC on cancer screening. Official Journal, 2003, L 327/34. 33 TFEU, Article 168, paragraph 2. 34 TFEU, Article 191, paragraph 1. 35 TFEU, Article 192.
22 Everything you always wanted to know about European Union health policies requiring environmental protection requirements to be integrated throughout the EU’s policies and activities. 36 Health and safety at work Among the EU’s list of social policy objectives, the first objective is “improvement in particular of the working environment to protect workers’ health and safety”. 37 The powers provided are broad in scope but quite specific in their nature, being limited to “directives, minimum requirements for gradual implementation, having regard to the conditions and technical rules obtaining in each of the Member States. Such directives shall avoid imposing administrative, financial and legal constraints in a way which would hold back the creation and development of small and medium-sized undertakings.” 38 For social policy, the EU has developed some unusual additional tools to accomplish its objectives. As well as standard legislation, the EU has developed a form of cooperation that effectively allows Member States to work together on issues where they hold them in common but they are too sensitive or too national for European legislation: the OMC approach is based on setting common objectives, sharing information, benchmarking and monitoring progress; unlike health policy (which also has specific provision for such cooperation), this has become a major means of action in the social policy area, including for health systems. As mentioned above, social policy also has a unique additional legislative route, which is by direct negotiation and agreement between management and union representatives (aka social partners); these agreements can then be implemented into normal EU law by a Commission proposal and Council decision. 39 Consumer protection The objectives of the EU on consumer protection also include contributing to “the health, safety and economic interests of consumers” (emphasis added). 40 These objectives are principally achieved through internal market legislation; consequently, internal market measures protecting the health of consumers (consumers being understood in EU law as anyone acting outside their trade or profession) can also be justified on the basis of the consumer protection article. Examples include food safety, labelling and nutritional health claims. 36 TFEU, Article 11. 37 TFEU, Article 153, paragraph 1(a). 38 TFEU, Article 153, paragraph 2(b). 39 TFEU, Article 153. 40 TFEU, Article 169.
Page 1 and 2: Everything you always wanted to kno
Page 3 and 4: The European Observatory on Health
Page 5 and 6: Keywords DELIVERY OF HEALTH CARE EU
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Page 10 and 11: List of acronyms and abbreviations
Page 12 and 13: Summary The idea of “European Uni
Page 14 and 15: Summary xiii the EU institutions, w
Page 16 and 17: Chapter 1 Introduction The idea of
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Page 52 and 53: Chapter 3 EU action for health The
Page 54 and 55: Fighting against cancer today cover
Page 56 and 57: EU action for health 41 3.2.1 Tobac
Page 58 and 59: EU action for health 43 limitations
Page 60 and 61: EU action for health 45 Table 3.2 O
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Page 74 and 75: EU action for health 59 a “Health
Page 76 and 77: EU action for health 61 Health in t
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EU action for health 71 Health in A
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Chapter 4 How other European action
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How other European action affects h
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Chapter 5 Fiscal governance and wha
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Fiscal governance and what it means
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Appendix Selected articles relevant
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Appendix 137 protection of national
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Appendix 139 Article 56 (ex Article
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Appendix 141 (f) representation and
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Appendix 143 Union action, which sh
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Appendix 145 - preserving, protecti
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What does the European Union mean f
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