The EU and e-health: a European disease

Healthcare, strictly speaking, is none of the EU's business. It is a sensitive issue that member states have largely preferred to keep in their own hands. They have allowed the EU to do little more than "support, co-ordinate, or supplement."

It is only when healthcare enters the realm of, say, competition or fundamental rights, that the European Commission is allowed to draft legislation - like on the harmonisation of medical devices, or more recently, patients' rights in cross-border h...