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Where Is ‘Health’ in EU Governance?

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The Politics of Health Promotion

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Science, Knowledge and Policy ((SKP))

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Abstract

The discussion around macrosocial determinants of health suggests that, even if public health per se is largely a member state competence, EU competencies still influence it. But how should we navigate this massive entity that is the EU, to identify its relevance to HiAP? This book does not provide an exhaustive account of all policy areas directly and indirectly relevant to health—such a task would be monumental. Instead, it is concerned with studying HiAP as a soft, cognitive process requiring an approach focused on meaning-making (Jacquot, 2010). Still, some form of navigation map is required, which is what this chapter provides. It builds on existing research and outlines a categorisation of EU governance types: soft, hard and meta-regulatory governance, along which the scope for HiAP will be studied. Most research critically looking at the politics of health in the EU focuses on health(care) policy and law, and critiques the constitutionally asymmetrical integration dynamics that privilege markets over people (Greer, 2014a; Greer & Löblová, 2016; Lamping & Steffen, 2009). While sympathetic to these points, this chapter sets the scene for taking this critique a step further by considering macrosocial determinants of health. This arguably broadens the scope of EU health studies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A third treaty not mentioned here is the Euratom Treaty.

  2. 2.

    One notably different approach is taken by Flear (2015), who uses a Foucauldian, biopolitical framework to critically analyse EU health policy.

  3. 3.

    While this may be the case for the Nordic member states, it is not necessarily so for Mediterranean countries most affected by the crisis (see Greer, 2014b).

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    Charlotte Godziewski

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Godziewski, C. (2022). Where Is ‘Health’ in EU Governance?. In: The Politics of Health Promotion. Palgrave Studies in Science, Knowledge and Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97870-9_3

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