ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a United Kingdom (UK) Government perspective, the impact of developments in the European Union (EU) on the UK health service and the National Health Service (NHS). It also examines UK Government policy to date on the role of the EU in health services and how various drivers in recent years have influenced and refined that policy position. As far as health services were concerned, however, it reconfirmed the position held by previous administrations that the organisation and delivery of health services was a member state responsibility: the Union had no competence to intervene in this area. During negotiations on the Amsterdam Treaty of 1998, the UK backed a specific reference in Article 152 of the new Treaty in the public health chapter which read: Community action in the field of public health shall fully respect the responsibilities of the Member States for the organisation and delivery of health services and medical care.
