The Europeanization of health policy: the role of EU institutions

This chapter identifies the most significant actors and factors in the Europeanization of health policy. It argues that although in health policy, according to intergovernmentalist logic, member states are considered the most influential actors, health policy has for some time been embroiled in a dynamic process of Europeanization. Moreover, although the treaties and the neofunctional dynamics of the ECJ (Geyer 2011: 587) have often been advanced as key catalysts, the Commission and the networks it promotes are arguably the most influential Europeanization drivers in this policy area. A permutation of “bottom up,” “top down,” and horizontal processes combine to create a process of incremental Europeanization.