ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the health-related developments at European Union (EU) level in terms of the legislative and decision-making frameworks up to the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam, including an assessment of the roles of the High Level Committee on Health and the Interservice Group on Health. It considers the changing nature of Community priorities in health, and addresses the complex question of health care in the EU, insofar as the Community has no official competencies in the area. The chapter examines public health in the EU, and focuses on the European Commission's current priorities in this field. In doing so, it defines the basis of priority setting in public health generally, and analyses the different methodological approaches in establishing priorities at Member State and European Community levels specifically. Finally, the chapter draws conclusions from these analyses and offers some concrete recommendations for the future.
