The Impact of EU Law on the Organization of Health Care

Have a look at the introduction of the latest paper about the Impact of EU Law on the Organization of Health Care by Clemens:

Health Care in the European Union has a fundamental contradiction at its core. On the one hand, the Preamble of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union points out that "the Union is founded on the indivisible, universal values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity”. It aims to place “the individual at the heart of its activities, by establishing the citizenship of the Union and by creating an area of freedom, security and justice”.

Furthermore, the European Union “seeks to promote balanced and sustainable development and ensures free movement of persons, goods, services and capital, and the freedom of establishment”. Considering the health of the European people as a part of their freedom and security, it becomes obvious that the EU promises to influence health care to ensure the free movement of persons (e.g. staff and patients), goods (e.g. pharmaceuticals and devices) and services (e.g. medical treatment) in one European domestic market to ensure a high level of health across Europe.

On the other side, the Treaty on the Function of the European Union states specifically in Art. 168 par. 7, that health care organization falls under the res- ponsibility of the Member States.

This leads to an absence of one unitary EU health care law or policy – but a patchwork of different laws and policies that apply in the health care sector. In addition, the European Court of Justice has influenced the health care organization through a number of cases taking the European fundamental freedoms into account. Therefore the objective of this paper is to give a brief overview of the patchwork under the perspective of the organization of health care in Europe and take a closer look at the basic judgements on fundamental freedoms.

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