The Health Policy Challenge: From Crisis to Union

The COVID-19 crisis brings the European Union (EU) – and its health policy – to a critical juncture. For a short period of time, decision-makers have a heightened ability to shape the future trajectory of EU health policy and a greater range of political options from which to choose (Capoccia and Kelemen 2007). By contrast to their traditional reluctance to cede health powers to the EU, national governments have recognised the necessity of coordination in responding to health emergencies, the logical advantages of strengthening their collective prevention and preparedness activities, and the potential value of giving the EU a greater role to these ends. This shift in national preferences opens a window of opportunity in which policy entrepreneurs – namely the European Commission’s health directorate (DG Health and Food Safety; SANTE) and its constituency of public health advocates and experts – might push health integration forward. There are certainly limits to the potential options available; the creation of a full-scale European healthcare system is not likely to find support, even in these unprecedented times. However, the crisis has clearly highlighted weaknesses in the existing EU health policy framework, particularly that governing prevention of and response to health emergencies, and fostered amenability towards reform.