Health Systems Governance in Europe: The Role of European Union Law and Policy

There is a fundamental contradiction at the core of health policy in the European Union that makes it difficult to draw a line between EU and Member State responsibilities. This raises a number of difficult questions for policy makers and practitioners as they struggle to interpret both 'hard' and 'soft' laws at EU and Member State level and to reconcile tensions between economic and social imperatives in health care. This book addresses these complex questions by combining analysis of the underlying issues with carefully chosen case studies that illustrate how broader principles are played out in practice. Each chapter addresses a topical area in which there is considerable debate and potential uncertainty.

Elias Mossialos is Brian Abel-Smith Professor of Health Policy and Director of LSE Health at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Govin Permanand is Programme Manager of the Health Evidence Network at the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, and Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Rita Baeten is Senior Policy Analyst at the European Social Observatory, Brussels. Tamara K. Hervey is Professor of Law at the University of Sheffield.