Forging a European Health Union : Between subsidiarity and sovereignty?

Kuiper, Elizabeth and Guy, Mary (2022) Forging a European Health Union : Between subsidiarity and sovereignty? EuroHealth, 28 (3). pp. 50-52. ISSN 1356-1030

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Abstract

Developing a European Health Union necessarily involves re-examining European Union (EU) and national level interaction. While this is currently framed around limited legal competence, its political identity is notable: the EU’s role is restricted because health is a Member State competence. Although this has not precluded more subtle EU-level involvement via, for example, internal market rules and fiscal policies such as the European Semester, the explicit development of a European Health Union is more contentious and political by nature. We consider here how the principle of subsidiarity and concerns about national sovereignty may help – or hinder – the shaping of a true European Health Union.