Transcript Tamara Hervey (University of Sheffield)

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The impacts of European Union Law on
the healthcare sector:
Paper I – Institutional overview
Tamara Hervey, Jean Monnet Professor of
European Union Law, University of
Sheffield ([email protected])
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Overview
• Introduction
• EU Law
• EU law making and the competence of the EU
• The structure of EU law
• Supremacy of EU law
• Enforceability of EU law
• Policy responses/EU added value
• Conclusions
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Three key questions:
• What is special about EU law?
• What challenges and opportunities for
those in the healthcare sector therefore
arise?
• What kinds of questions should those
involved in managing the healthcare
sector therefore be asking themselves?
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EU law making and competence
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EU law making and competence
25 Directorates
General
736 MEPs
20 Parliamentary Committees
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The structure of EU law
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The structure of EU law
• Free movement law
• Prohibits restrictions on movement of goods,
services, persons
• Exceptions where justified
• Competition law
• Prohibits cartels and monopolies
• Exceptions for public services
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The structure of EU law
• Law and policy that softens internal
market/competition law
• Employment law
• Consumer protection law
• Environmental law
• Public health law …
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Supremacy of EU Law
national law that contradicts EU
law must be ‘disapplied’
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The enforceability of EU law
• Individual rights in EU law
• Enforceable before (ordinary) national
courts
• ‘Direct effect’
• Applies to enforce EU law against ‘public’
bodies
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The enforceability of EU law
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Policy responses
• ‘Framework Programmes’
• Public health programme
• Best practice
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EU PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMMES
Now Operated by Executive Agency for Public
Health and Consumers
Objectives:
• Improve citizens' health security
• Promote health for prosperity and solidarity
• Generate and disseminate health knowledge
Budget: c € 300 million
http://ec.europa.eu/phea/index_en.html
Opportunities
Health status varies widely in EU
•
Life expectancy at birth (years) for males ranges from 65 (Latvia, Lithuania) to 79 (Sweden), a gap of
14 years
•
Life expectancy at birth (years) for females ranges from 76 (Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania) to 84 (France,
Italy, Spain), a gap of 8 years
Source: Rosling H. Gapminder, registered as a Foundation at Stockholm County Administration Board
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Solidarity, redistribution, territorially
based – closed-ness
vs
Remove national barriers, access to
wider markets, efficiencies and
economies of scale – open-ness
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Summary
• Logic and structures of EU
law ≠logic and structures of
healthcare
• EU law-making institutions
may be unaware of
healthcare concerns
• The special nature of EU
law
• Can have challenging
effects for national
healthcare systems
• Benefits and opportunities
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