All Quiet on the Health Front? – A Historical Analysis of 55 Years of Public Health Policy Integration in the European Union
(2024) STVM23 20241Department of Political Science
- Abstract
- Ever since the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community with the Paris Treaty in 1952, the European Union and its predecessors have been involved in public health policy. This study investigates the mechanisms driving public health policy integration within the European Union by posing the research question ‘Why does integration in the policy area of public health occur?’. Aligned with this research question, the study pursues two primary objectives: first, to chronicle key occurrences of public health policy integration from 1952 to 2007, and second, to evaluate whether the concept of functional spillover and a crisis-driven approach can account for these integrative occurrences. In this time frame, 14 key integrative public... (More)
- Ever since the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community with the Paris Treaty in 1952, the European Union and its predecessors have been involved in public health policy. This study investigates the mechanisms driving public health policy integration within the European Union by posing the research question ‘Why does integration in the policy area of public health occur?’. Aligned with this research question, the study pursues two primary objectives: first, to chronicle key occurrences of public health policy integration from 1952 to 2007, and second, to evaluate whether the concept of functional spillover and a crisis-driven approach can account for these integrative occurrences. In this time frame, 14 key integrative public health policy occurrences are identified. In line with the comparative-historical analysis research tradition, and through a qualitative, small-N comparative research design employing historical narratives and pattern matching as research methods, this study finds that functional spillover and exogenous shocks can effectively explain ten of these instances. Functional spillover is particularly effective in accounting for broader integrative occurrences, such as treaty changes. A crisis-driven approach, on the other hand, is better suited for issue-specific occurrences. Four occurrences, categorised as soft law and policy initiatives, could not be fully explained by these frameworks, highlighting the complexity of public health integration and suggesting that, while functional spillover and crisis-driven explanations provide valuable insights into EU public health integration, they are not exhaustive. By providing a comprehensive historical account of EU health policy integration and testing alternative explanations, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the dynamics of European integration in the area of public health. The implications of this research are particularly relevant in the current political context, as the EU contemplates its future role in public health policy and with a possible European Health Union on the horizon. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9171624
- author
- Waldeck, Benjamin LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- STVM23 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- European Union, health, public health, integration, comparative-historical analysis, public health policy, neofunctionalism, Historical Institutionalism, historical analysis
- language
- English
- id
- 9171624
- date added to LUP
- 2024-10-01 11:19:46
- date last changed
- 2024-10-01 11:19:46
@misc{9171624,
abstract = {{Ever since the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community with the Paris Treaty in 1952, the European Union and its predecessors have been involved in public health policy. This study investigates the mechanisms driving public health policy integration within the European Union by posing the research question ‘Why does integration in the policy area of public health occur?’. Aligned with this research question, the study pursues two primary objectives: first, to chronicle key occurrences of public health policy integration from 1952 to 2007, and second, to evaluate whether the concept of functional spillover and a crisis-driven approach can account for these integrative occurrences. In this time frame, 14 key integrative public health policy occurrences are identified. In line with the comparative-historical analysis research tradition, and through a qualitative, small-N comparative research design employing historical narratives and pattern matching as research methods, this study finds that functional spillover and exogenous shocks can effectively explain ten of these instances. Functional spillover is particularly effective in accounting for broader integrative occurrences, such as treaty changes. A crisis-driven approach, on the other hand, is better suited for issue-specific occurrences. Four occurrences, categorised as soft law and policy initiatives, could not be fully explained by these frameworks, highlighting the complexity of public health integration and suggesting that, while functional spillover and crisis-driven explanations provide valuable insights into EU public health integration, they are not exhaustive. By providing a comprehensive historical account of EU health policy integration and testing alternative explanations, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the dynamics of European integration in the area of public health. The implications of this research are particularly relevant in the current political context, as the EU contemplates its future role in public health policy and with a possible European Health Union on the horizon.}},
author = {{Waldeck, Benjamin}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{All Quiet on the Health Front? – A Historical Analysis of 55 Years of Public Health Policy Integration in the European Union}},
year = {{2024}},
}