Ebook: Public Services and the European Union: Healthcare, Health Insurance and Education Services

Patients travelling abroad to receive medical treatment, healthcare providers wishing to establish their seat or to provide services abroad, and students travelling abroad for education were faced with different barriers which have been declared illegal by the Court of Justice of the European Union. Member States started to use market mechanisms in their welfare systems and this triggered the application of the European internal market and competition rules. Fears related to whether all these would endanger the well-functioning of the welfare services have been raised by Member States. Several conflicts took shape: between national social interests and European Union economic interests; between individual interests and national general interests; between regulation and deregulation, centralization and decentralization.

The author shows that behind those fears actually protectionist measures are hidden and that the European Law provides sufficient safeguards for the national welfare systems. In particular academia professionals and practitioners will benefit from the approach taken in this book.

Dr. Laura Nistor is a Policy Officer in the DG Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission, Brussels, Belgium.

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Politically sensitive and economically important, welfare services such as health care, health insurance and education have opened up a heated debate in the EU. The application of EU law to welfare services raises discontent from the part of the Member States who perceive their systems to be under threat. Resisting to the application of the EU law is sometimes seen as part of protecting those values. This book suggests that this resistance is largely unjustified. EU law is not damaging to welfare systems, but it provides adequate balancing mechanisms to ensure that all interests are protected. The approach taken in analysing the impact of EU law on welfare services is to look at the negative integration process and answer the questions related to the extent to which EU law applies to welfare services and the kinds of safeguards the Court offers for these services. The proportionality principle distinguishes itself as the central element in balancing national and Community interests. Being part of the broader integration process, negative harmonization creates legislative lacunae, and therefore, this book also looks at alternative solutions to the negative harmonization process, namely positive and soft law.