The EU debate is a minefield, with half-truths and whole-lies coming from both camps. The reason for this, as I understand it, is twofold. Firstly, it is impossible to know what will happen in the event that the UK leaves the EU, or indeed what will happen in five, ten or fifty years’ time if […]
Later today I will give a presentation at the Health Policy and Politics Network conference, ‘Policy priorities and challenges for health and social care in England’, at Manchester University. My presentation is titled ‘Healthier in: Why being a member of the European Union is good for the UK NHS’ and this post elaborates on the […]
The European Parliament (EP) descended into disarray earlier this week as MEPs failed to speak with one voice about the way negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) are being handled by the European Commission. A key discussion and vote on the controversial trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and the United […]
On 28 November 2014 the European Commission announced its plans to reform the European Semester, the EU’s annual cycle of economic policy coordination. This initiative comes in response to sustained monitoring and evaluation which suggests that the recommendations made as part of the Semester, known as the Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs), are not being implemented […]
Following a sustained campaign of opposition, the President-elect of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, withdrew his proposal to reassign responsibility for pharmaceutical policy to the Commission’s department for industry in the week before last. Celebrations immediately ensued amongst the public health community, which launched an energetic and well-targeted ‘thunderclap’ campaign to oppose the reassignment and […]
Stakeholder involvement has been the focus of much discussion and debate in recent months, in relation to both the delivery and the design of EU policy. In the current economic climate, mechanisms such as public-private partnerships (PPPs) can be effective tools for financing innovation and delivering services, but balancing the role of industry with public […]
In November 2009, following a sustained campaign by health actors and against strong opposition from the pharmaceutical industry, responsibility for EU policy on health technologies and pharmaceuticals was moved under the purview of the Directorate General (DG) for Health and Consumer Policy (SANCO). On 10 September 2014, the President-elect of the new European Commission, Jean-Claude […]