ABSTRACT
Most accounts of European Union involvement in social policy in general and specifically in health care present a minimalist version of the role that Brussels plays. This chapter, discusses three interrelated questions: Are European integration and Brussels, the center, pushing towards convergence of the individual member states' health care systems? What is the character of such a convergence? What are the ways through which it is being developed? Brussels is approaching the issue of health care financing and delivery from a certain distance. The chapter deals with a description of European institutions and their respective places in the policy-making process, as these have evolved over the course of European integration. It explores the constraints that the EU presents through an overview of the involvement of Brussels in issues that deal with health care. In terms of Brussels, health insurance is considered either private or social.
