Challenges and Opportunities in Europe Monika Kosinska Secretary
- Slides: 11
Challenges and Opportunities in Europe Monika Kosinska Secretary General European Public Health Alliance Dublin, 1 November 2012
Introduction l Brief overview of the EU l Alcohol in the EU l Challenges for health policy l Opportunities for health advocates l Conclusions 2 Dublin, 1 November 2012
European Public Health Alliance l Coalition from across the EU o Public health non-governmental organisations o Health professionals’ associations o Patient groups o Academic organisations o Population or disease-specific groups o Others 3 Dublin, 1 November 2012
Understanding the EU l Main goals of the European Union o Peace and security o Economic recovery and development …via economic integration and dismantling interwar protectionist measures 4 Dublin, 1 November 2012
Understanding Brussels l ‘Pristine’ policy environment (detached from ‘real’ citizens) l Economic vs socia/environment/health l Lobbying l Legal & technocratic vs political & democratic l Dominance of Think Tanks, lawyers, compared to size of civil service 5 Dublin, 1 November 2012
Understanding EU alcohol policy l Alcohol is key EU commodity o Agricultural subsidies o Promotional funds for wine o Internal market excise law o International trade agreements and export good o Marketing across borders o Alcohol harm strategies… 6 Dublin, 1 November 2012
Complex policy context l 20 years of economic thinking in question l Europe in decline vs other regions l Technology developing quicker than policy l Budgets and public spending crisis l Financial -> Economic -> Political crisis l Political confidence in private sector low 7 Dublin, 1 November 2012
Challenges l o Legal: o Litigious sector + confidence from tobacco wins o MUP is public health tipping point… Economic o o Tension between two sets of rights Political o ‘Jobs and growth’ o Strong lobbying from ‘key’ sector 8 Dublin, 1 November 2012
Opportunities l l l Evidence has caught up – need to watch the Think Tanks North Europe / South Europe gap is closing Growing confidence from other regions – pushing back Appetite for intervention – stretching regulatory muscle (taxes, MUP…) Cracks in the economic-dominant hegemony 9 Dublin, 1 November 2012
Conclusions l l MUP is the most important public health case in 30 years EU trend is in favour of health BUT need to be ready to capitalise on this 2013 / 2014 very important for alcohol – (MUP, alcohol strategy, audio-visual media directive) 2013 / 2014 will set the stage until 2020 10 Dublin, 1 November 2012
We need to keep an eye on the goal Identifying the problem Framing the policy issues Policy decision Implementing decision Evaluating decision 11 Dublin, 1 November 2012
