Health Systems and Policy Space for Health in the Context of European Union Trade Policies

2015 ◽  
pp. 371-396
Author(s):  
Meri Koivusalo
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Trade Policies ◽  
Policy Space

scholarly journals When actions do not match aspirations - comparison of the European Union policy claims against what has been negotiated for health services, trade and investment

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Meri Koivusalo ◽  
Noora Heinonen ◽  
Liina-Kaisa Tynkkynen
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Trade Negotiations ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy Space ◽  
Trade Negotiation ◽  
European Union Policy ◽  
Union Policy ◽  
Trade And Investment

Abstract Background Obligations arising from trade and investment agreements can affect how governments can regulate and organise health systems. The European Union has made explicit statements of safeguarding policy space for health systems. We assessed to what extent health systems were safeguarded in trade negotiations using the European Union (EU) negotiation proposals for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the negotiated agreement for the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Methods We assessed if and to what extent the European Union policy assurances were upheld in trade negotiations. Our assessment was made using three process tracing informed tests. The tests examined: i) what was covered in negotiation proposals of services and investment chapters, ii) if treatment of health services differed from treatment of another category of services (audiovisual services) with similar EU Treaty considerations, and iii) if other means of general exceptions, declarations or emphases on right to regulate could have resulted in the same outcome. Results Our analysis shows that the European Union had sought to secure policy space for publicly funded health services for services chapter, but not for investment and investment protection chapters. In comparison to audiovisual services, exceptions for health services fall short from those on audiovisual services. There is little evidence that the same outcome could have been achieved using other avenues. Conclusions The European Union has not achieved its own assurances of protection of regulatory policy space for health services in trade negotiations. The European Union trade negotiation priorities need to change to ensure that its negotiation practices comply with its own assurances for health services and sustainable financing of health systems.

scholarly journals Gaps in coverage and access in the European Union

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
E Webb ◽  
W Palm ◽  
E van Ginneken ◽  
S Lessof ◽  
L Siciliani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Current Data ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Undocumented Migrants ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Income Status ◽  
Barriers To Access ◽  
Collection Practice

Abstract Background At the request of the European Commission, the Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and the HSPM network have undertaken a study to explore gaps in universal health coverage in the European Union and increase the level of granularity in terms of areas or groups where accessibility is sub-optimal. Methods To explore these gaps more systematically a survey was developed based on the so-called cube model that comprises different dimensions determining health coverage, including population coverage, service coverage and cost coverage. In addition, access can also be hampered by other factors, which relate more to the physical availability of care, a person's ability to obtain necessary care or the attitude of the provider. The survey was sent to country contacts from the Health Systems and Policy Monitor network. Results Within the diversity of country cases found in the survey, the most significant barriers for accessing health care still seem to be associated with social and income status, rather than specific medical conditions. However, groups like mentally ill, homeless, frail elderly, undocumented migrants are more likely to face multiple layers of exclusion and complex barriers to access. Conclusions Health system interventions can close access gaps for these vulnerable groups and address inequities in access to care. Through detailed coverage design countries can indeed determine the extent to which financial hardship and catastrophic out-of-pocket spending can be prevented. Furthermore, scope exists to improve current data collection practice.

The Impact of Nontariff Trade Policy of European Union Crude Palm Oil Import on Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Rest of the World Economy: An Analysis in GTAP Framework

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-52
Author(s):  
Rozy A. Pratama ◽  
Tri Widodo
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Palm Oil ◽  
Computable General Equilibrium ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Trade Policies ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The World ◽  
Trade Analysis ◽  
Global Trade Analysis Project ◽  
The Impact

Indonesia and Malaysia are the largest producers and exporters of palm oil in the world vegetable oil market. Palm oil and its derivative products are the highest contributors to foreign exchange in 2018. This study aims to analyze the impact of the European Union import non-tariff trade policies on the Indonesian and Malaysian economies The analysis uses the Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model of world trade on the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) program. The results of this study found that the non-tariff import policy by the European Union had a negative impact on the economies of Indonesia and Malaysia. Moreover, the policy also has a negative impact on countries in Southeast Asia and the European Union. This shows that the enactment of non-tariff import trade policies for Indonesian and Malaysian palm oil products has a global impact.

scholarly journals Unia Europejska w obliczu pandemii COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-26
Author(s):  
Paweł Turczyński ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The World

The coronavirus pandemic that hit the world in early 2020 has weakened Europe very severely. In the first period (January-February), the disease was often neglected, which allowed it to spread rapidly. In March, panic struck European societies, the health systems of many countries collapsed, and governments introduced drastic restrictions on civil liberties and on the functioning of the economy. The European Union, which was helpless in the first period, took steps in the spring to restore the European economy after the end of the epidemic.

Corrigendum to “Strengthening vaccination programmes and health systems in the European Union: A framework for action” [Health Policy 124 (2020) 511–518]

Health Policy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 124 (9) ◽  
pp. 1041
Author(s):  
Luigi Siciliani ◽  
Claudia Wild ◽  
Martin McKee ◽  
Dionne Kringos ◽  
Margaret M. Barry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Health Policy ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
The European Union

scholarly journals SHELTERING GOVERNMENT SUPPORT TO ‘GREEN’ ELECTRICITY: THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gracia Marín Durán
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Government Support ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy Space ◽  
The World ◽  
Institutional Contexts

AbstractSince the Canada – Renewable Energy (2013) dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO), the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) has been the focal point of academic debate on the trade-environment interface, with a growing consensus that WTO subsidy rules need to be revisited with a view to securing ‘policy space’ for government support for renewable energy. This article explores whether, as suggested by some scholars, the European Union (EU)’s system of justifications for renewable energy aid could serve as a source of inspiration for the WTO. While this proposition may appear attractive at first sight, it is hardly conceivable, or even desirable, that the EU's approach to sheltering government support for renewable energy could be transposed to the WTO. This is because the two systems of subsidy control are fundamentally different in both substantive and procedural terms and, importantly, these differences reflect distinct objectives and political/institutional contexts. Nonetheless, this comparative analysis sheds light on where the key challenges lie for the WTO in ensuring that international trade rules and climate change mitigation objectives are mutually supportive. It is argued that the case for reviewing the SCM Agreement cannot be made by simply forging parallels with the EU's regulatory model, but needs to be carefully construed on the basis of a proper understanding of whether and how green policy space is actually constrained under the current WTO subsidy and trade remedy rules. However, this requires better information on existing WTO members’ practice in relation to renewable energy subsidies, as well as on their environmental effectiveness and possible trade-distortive impact. In this sense, the most valuable lesson that the WTO can draw from the EU's regulatory experience is the imperative of improving the transparency and knowledge-enhancing elements of its subsidy control system.

scholarly journals COMPARISON OF EUROPEAN UNION PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEMS

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davor Mance ◽  
◽  
Nenad Vretenar ◽  
Jelena Gojković ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
European Union ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Public Health Systems
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