LFU:online

§ 5 (1) 10 European Integration - Enhanced Level

Students are able to explain the functionality and differentiation of the political system of the EU. They discuss and answer questions illustrated by individual organs and institutions of internal and institutional decision-making processes and the characteristics of individual political fields.

European Healh Policy: Decisions, Interests and Influence

Although EU health policy has gained more competences through the Treaty of Lisbon (2009) and Art. 168 TFEU has been clarified, concretised and expanded, the latter for example in para. 1 by "monitoring, early notification and combating of serious health threats", legislative competences remain largely at the national level. Nevertheless, the EU institutions have been able to set measures to fight the COVID-19 pandemic precisely because of the cross-cutting nature of the policy field "public health" and thus have made use of other competences, for example in the fields of economic and financial policy, external relations, trade, research, industrial and transport policy. 

Within the framework of the this Virtual Lecture, the following thematic blocks will be discussed:

-  legislative setting and distribution of competences within the EU multi-level system 

-  actors and actor constellations: the EU Commission, the EU Parliament, the EU member states (focus: Austria), the Council, the Council presidencies and EU consultative bodies; EU health agencies ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control) and EMA (European Medicines Agency)

-  influencing EU decision-making processes: Lobbying in the policy field of health (e.g. pharmaceutical industry, food industry, consumer affairs associations).

- global health diplomacy of the EU and international cooperation within the WHO

Policy field analysis/policy field research: decision-making processes are analysed and implementation dynamics illustrated via practical case studies. Emphasis is put on actor- and structure-centred approaches and interst constellations. In addition  discourse models of policy-making, comparative policy analysis and coherence gaps  between different polcy fieldes are studied.  

- Active participation: Virtual discussion contributions (chat, input, ...)

- Analysis/research (position paper): Health lobbying (EU transparency register)

- Written final paper  (10 pages): List of topics (see Olat)

S. Russack & D. Fenner: Crisis decision-making. How Covid-19 has changed the working methods of the EU institutions, CEPS No 2020-17, July 2020; 2) Eleanor Brooks & Robert Geyer (2020): The development of EU health policy and the Covid-19 pandemic: trends and implications, Journal of European Integration, 42:8, 1057-1076, DOI: 10.1080/07036337.2020.1853718

Dialer, D., & Richter, M. (Eds.). (2018): Lobbying in the European Union: Successful Strategies and Techniques: Springer (www.springer.com/us/book/9783319987996)

successful completion of the compulsory modules 1, 2, 3 and 5