Abstract
Although most governments were heavily scrutinized and looked bad early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU was most noticeable for its absence. This might seem strange, for an institution whose public health role has been forged through crisis—from the thalidomide tragedy and the scandal of HIV-infected blood supplies, to “mad cow disease” and the underwhelming H1N1 influenza pandemic. A closer review of the EU’s health governance, however, reveals it to have performed exactly as expected and intended. An initial phase of disorganization and national egotism, unavoidable given that member states have historically restricted the EU’s health capacities, has been followed by a substantial new health policy agenda and a reinforcement of the EU’s market- and fiscal-based health influence. This is leading, we posit, to further integration.
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Notes
- 1.
Decision No. 1082/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 on serious crossborder threats to health.
- 2.
Brussels, 28.5.2020 COM(2020) 405 final. Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a Programme for the Union’s action in the field of health—for the period 2021–2027 and repealing regulation (EU) No. 282/2014 (“EU4Health Programme”).
- 3.
- 4.
European Council (ECFIN): 23 March 2020 Statement of EU ministers of finance on the Stability and Growth Pact in light of the COVID-19 crisis 23 March 2020. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2020/03/23/statement-of-eu-ministers-of-finance-on-the-stability-and-growth-pact-in-light-of-the-covid-19-crisis/.
- 5.
Decision No. 1082/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 on serious crossborder threats to health.
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Greer, S.L., de Ruijter, A., Brooks, E. (2021). The COVID-19 Pandemic: Failing Forward in Public Health. In: Riddervold, M., Trondal, J., Newsome, A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of EU Crises. Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51791-5_44
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