On 13-14th April 2023, the Law Centre for Health & Life (Faculty of Law), in collaboration with the Amsterdam Centre of European Studies (ACES), and the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance (ACELG) organise a conference on 'EU health governance: An opportunity for trust and solidarity?' in Amsterdam at DROOG. This project is co-funded by European Commission Erasmus Plus Programme of the European Union.
Trust and solidarity are fundamental to the governance of health and healthy living environments in Europe and globally. At the EU level, health issues are ubiquitous, which is visible in the EU’s role in transcending sectoral governance of information, industry, environment, and trade, even though health is not considered in all policies. Trust in (trans)national lawmakers, regulators, inspectors, and private industry for bringing us safe food from the farm to our fork, and for protecting our clean air and fresh water, is essential for us to meet our basic health needs and to enjoy our human rights. Patients must place their trust in a range of mediators (ex. health facilities, medical product regulators, the business sector) on the path to receiving healthcare. Solidarity is also a critical component of policy interventions for the protection and betterment of public health (ex. to reduce hormones in the food chain), and for safeguarding individual health (ex. cross-border healthcare).
The EU’s law and policy are both shaped by and impacting on public trust and solidarity among and within European countries and the wider world. Now, our trust and notions of solidarity are being disrupted by new technologies (ex. AI-mediated healthcare, health apps, e-health), globalization (ex. long supply chains, international trade and migration), and emerging health threats (ex. antimicrobial resistance, pandemic pathogens). These challenges increasingly stress political and social cohesion between and within European countries and are increasingly met by new regulatory responses (ex. fast-tracked medicines licensing, regional/global regulatory harmonization, proposals to expand the EU’s reach in health policy). At the same time, the EU’s internal market regulation impacts on commodities and human health far beyond its borders. As a result, trust and solidarity in health-related matters have a tremendous potential to influence human health and the living environment in the EU and the wider world.
Thursday 13 April 2022
Friday 14 April 2023
The conference will be taking place onsite, at DROOG in Amsterdam.
Address:
Staalstraat 7B,
1011 JJ Amsterdam
The Netherlands