Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religious Studies, County South, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YD, UK.
Health Policy. 2012 Apr;105(1):33-7. doi: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2011.12.004. Epub 2012 Jan 2.
Over the last two decades, the European Union (EU) has steadily increased its involvement in the health policies of its member states, with considerable support from the European Court of Justice (ECJ). However, much of the literature examining the Court's role has focused upon the intersection between internal market law and the health services sector; the majority of studies have failed to examine the potential role for the Court in public health policy. Observers such as Greer have seen the development of healthcare as a clear case of neofunctional spillover, a view supported but qualified by Wasserfallen and others, who present a more detailed account of the mechanics of the process. Alternative analyses have focused upon the new modes of governance, soft law and other factors - this article reviews the current state of research in the field and the extent to which it should concern health policy actors and non-specialists in EU policy alike. It concludes that the Court has played and continues to play a crucial role in the development of EU public health policy, as well as in health services and broader social policy, where its influence has already been well documented.
在过去的二十年中，欧盟（EU）稳步增加了对其成员国卫生政策的参与，欧洲法院（ECJ）给予了相当大的支持。然而，许多研究法院作用的文献都集中在内部市场法和卫生服务部门之间的交叉点上；大多数研究都未能研究法院在公共卫生政策方面的潜在作用。像 Greer 这样的观察家认为，医疗保健的发展是新功能溢出的明显案例，这种观点得到了 Wasserfallen 等人的支持，但他们对这一过程的机制进行了更详细的说明。替代分析侧重于新的治理模式、软法和其他因素——本文回顾了该领域目前的研究状况，以及它在多大程度上应该引起卫生政策行为者和欧盟政策非专业人士的关注。它得出的结论是，法院在欧盟公共卫生政策的发展以及卫生服务和更广泛的社会政策中发挥了并将继续发挥关键作用，其影响已经得到充分记录。
