EU health law and policy in and after the COVID-19 crisis

Greer, Scott L.; Ruijter, Anniek de

doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckaa088

Cited by 14 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 9 publications

(7 reference statements)

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“…The COVID-19 pandemic put EU regulatory capacities to the test, precisely in an area where national authority is strongly protected. 33 New EU vaccination policies and the EU4Health 2021‒27 research programme 34 point towards stronger EU regulation, 33 which might also impact health workforce governance. EU4Health aims to ‘establishing a reserve of medical, healthcare & support staff’.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health workforce protection and preparedness during the COVID-19 pandemic: a tool for the rapid assessment of EU health systems

Kuhlmann

Brinzac

Burau

et al. 2021

European Journal of Public Health

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This article is dedicated to the WHO International Year of Health and Care Workers in 2021 in recognition of their commitment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study aims to strengthen health workforce preparedness, protection and ultimately resilience during a pandemic. We argue for a health system approach and introduce a tool for rapid comparative assessment based on integrated multi-level governance. We draw on secondary sources and expert information, including material from Denmark, Germany, Portugal and Romania. The results reveal similar developments across countries: action has been taken to improve physical protection, digitalization and prioritization of healthcare worker vaccination, whereas social and mental health support programmes were weak or missing. Developments were more diverse in relation to occupational and organizational preparedness: some ad-hoc transformations of work routines and tasks were observed in all countries, yet skill-mix innovation and collaboration were strongest in Demark and weak in Portugal and Romania. Major governance gaps exist in relation to education and health integration, surveillance, social and mental health support programmes, gendered issues of health workforce capacity and integration of migrant healthcare workers (HCW). There is a need to step up efforts and make health systems more accountable to the needs of HCW during global public health emergencies.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health workforce protection and preparedness during the COVID-19 pandemic: a tool for the rapid assessment of EU health systems

Kuhlmann

Brinzac

Burau

et al. 2021

European Journal of Public Health

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“…Secondly, Decision 1082/2013/EU 96 regulates joint public procurement of medicinal countermeasures in case of outbreaks on large scale or health emergencies. 97 This is a valuable tool in light of the distribution of medicines and vaccines. 98 Thirdly, through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, which is based on the idea of cooperation, Member States can request assistance in case of disasters.…”

Section: Instruments and Mechanisms Of The Eumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…117 In other words, the EU's action was limited at first, because the Member States had agreed on this while drafting the Treaties. 118 Due to the corona crisis, a tension arose between national interests and principles underlying the EU internal market. 119 Some authors have argued that a rebound to selfishness and prevailing national interests became immediately visible as a consequence.…”

Section: Eu's Slow Startmentioning

confidence: 99%

EU Solidarity, Illustrated by the Covid-19 Crisis

Joppe

2021

Utrecht Law Review

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What does EU solidarity mean in the context of free movement of goods and persons and how is this illustrated by the response to the Covid-19 pandemic? Anne Joppe * Solidarity between the Member States of the EU is mostly called upon during times of crisis, as also now during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this article, the definition and importance of solidarity is studied with a focus on the internal market. It appears that solidarity does not have one unequivocal meaning, but that its importance and value depend per EU policy area. Yet, it is noteworthy that elements of reciprocity and altruism lie at the core of the value. In the context of the internal market, the principle is not referred to in the specific Treaty provisions on the fundamental freedoms. However, solidarity and the idea behind it can be enforced through the principle of loyalty within the meaning of Article 4(3) TEU. The reaction of the Union and the Member States to the Covid-19 outbreak illustrates how solidarity is reflected during crises. Studying the recent actions seems to confirm the conclusion that solidarity within the single market is rather a political aspiration, that is not legally binding or enforceable by itself. However, one could argue that this requires change, since it follows from the current pandemic that solidarity is crucial for the resilience of the internal market in times of crisis. The principle of loyalty can indeed play an instrumental role here and can be used to enforce the objectives of solidarity.

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“…Such a decision gave the European Union the chance to avoid any other disruptive competition on price by a single Member State, preserving the integrity of the Custom Market and fostering the European powers on healthrelated market chapters. The joint procurement procedure was already used in the 2010s during the emergency of H1N1 influenza (Greer & de Ruijter, 2020). Nevertheless, the late approval by the EMA -implementing a brand-new "roll-out" approval mechanism -(European Medicine Agency 2020) together with issues related to export to third countries and difficulties of the suppliers determined a delay in European Vaccine Campaign in early 2021 (Torjesen, 2021;Herszenhorn and Vela 2020).…”

Section: Covid-19: (Limited) Health Coordination In the Eumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…we could not be satisfied with market-related measures. The issues verified with AstraZeneca, the difficulty in early doses supplies due to late rollout and supply to third countries impacted unfairly to the Campaign and, even the initial hurdles seem to be overcome, it is necessary to put in place stronger measures to avoid any disruption in the supply chain that could potentially undermine the scope of the joint procurement (Greer & de Ruijter, 2020).…”

Section: Covid-19: (Limited) Health Coordination In the Eumentioning

confidence: 99%

The State of the Health (Dis)-Union in the EU: the legacy of austerity under the trial of Covid-19

Ceron

Palermo²

2021

Preprint

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Covid-19 highlights the inadequacy of EU governance cross-border challenges, especially transnational health challenges, supporting the call for a Health Union. Health policy remains a near-exclusive national competence whose budget was heavily impacted by EU-driven austerity, especially in Southern Europe. The work provides a comprehensive empirical assessment of the pandemic case evidencing the limits of the current governance framework and tabled reform proposals. The analysis contributes an extended understanding of the implications of the lack of an effective EU public health competence. We assess comparatively (austerity-induced) geographic heterogeneities in health-care preparedness, outbreak, crisis management and outcomes, delineating the extent to which inequalities remain in the absence of a Health Union. Findings evidence an empirically grounded case for sovereignty pooling in the core transnational domain of public health while providing a preliminary policy evaluation of the proposal for a Health Union.

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EU health law and policy in and after the COVID-19 crisis

Cited by 14 publications

References 9 publications

Health workforce protection and preparedness during the COVID-19 pandemic: a tool for the rapid assessment of EU health systems

Health workforce protection and preparedness during the COVID-19 pandemic: a tool for the rapid assessment of EU health systems

EU Solidarity, Illustrated by the Covid-19 Crisis

The State of the Health (Dis)-Union in the EU: the legacy of austerity under the trial of Covid-19

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