European Union Public Health Policy

‘This is an exceptional book. It combines the conceptual framework of Europeanization studies with an analysis of real policies and of the public health concerns that justify them. In doing so, it provides a clear account of how public health policy is made in the EU context and of what is at stake in this under-researched policy sector. It is the first book that goes beyond the classical question of bargaining between the EU and the member states, to define the overarching issue of EU policies within the context of economic and epidemiological globalization. A must for students, researchers and practitioners in international policy and public health.’– Monika Steffen, CNRS, Institute of Political Studies, Grenoble University, France.

‘How have Europeanization processes affected the big public health questions of the 21st century – such as tobacco control, access to essential medicines, cancer care, and obesity? This timely and historically-grounded book is focused on the European Union’s public health policies, in the context of the impact of its economic policies on public health. The book explains where the EU’s actions, in global trade rules affecting health care, in shaping national health systems, and in addressing select public health issues, have had the greatest effects on policy and practice. This discussion forms the basis of a call for a greater practical transparency, and hence democratic oversight, of the very real effects of EU public health policy.’– Professor Tamara Hervey, Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law, University of Sheffield, UK.