TY - JOUR
T1 - Pandemic legislation in the European Union
T2 - Fit for purpose? The need for a systematic comparison of national laws
AU - Speakman, Elizabeth M.
AU - Burris, Scott
AU - Coker, Richard
N1 - Funding Information:
EMS and RC’s work was conducted as part of the PANDEM project. This project has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no.652868). SB’s work was supported by the Policy Surveillance Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The opinions expressed here are those of the authors alone, and not necessarily those of the funding organisations. The authors thank Lindsay Cloud of the Policy Surveillance Program for assistance in the production of tables and figures for this article.
Copyright:
© 2017 The Authors
PY - 2017/10
Y1 - 2017/10
N2 - Sound governance is central to effective pandemic management. Key international legal instruments governing pandemic management in the European Union (EU): the International Health Regulations (2005) and Decision 1082/13 require EU Member States to develop national plans and invite them to establish national legal frameworks to support compliance with this international legislation. Although Member States may design the legal framework as they choose, the strongest instrument of pandemic governance is national legislation. It is currently unclear what national pandemic governance exists in Member States as it has not been mapped, i.e. identified and collated. Legal analysis and empirical evaluation of implementation and impact have therefore not been possible. We propose comprehensive mapping to create the necessary comparative data for legal analysis assessing national legislation's compliance with international obligations and ethical principles. Empirical research could evaluate its effectiveness in promoting cross-border coherence and robust emergency response. We draw on the U.S. experience with “policy surveillance”, the systematic scientific mapping of laws of public health importance. Until national pandemic governance is mapped and evaluated, we cannot know if it is lawful, ethical or effective.
AB - Sound governance is central to effective pandemic management. Key international legal instruments governing pandemic management in the European Union (EU): the International Health Regulations (2005) and Decision 1082/13 require EU Member States to develop national plans and invite them to establish national legal frameworks to support compliance with this international legislation. Although Member States may design the legal framework as they choose, the strongest instrument of pandemic governance is national legislation. It is currently unclear what national pandemic governance exists in Member States as it has not been mapped, i.e. identified and collated. Legal analysis and empirical evaluation of implementation and impact have therefore not been possible. We propose comprehensive mapping to create the necessary comparative data for legal analysis assessing national legislation's compliance with international obligations and ethical principles. Empirical research could evaluate its effectiveness in promoting cross-border coherence and robust emergency response. We draw on the U.S. experience with “policy surveillance”, the systematic scientific mapping of laws of public health importance. Until national pandemic governance is mapped and evaluated, we cannot know if it is lawful, ethical or effective.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85029544737&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.healthpol.2017.08.009
DO - 10.1016/j.healthpol.2017.08.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 28935231
AN - SCOPUS:85029544737
SN - 0168-8510
VL - 121
SP - 1021
EP - 1024
JO - Health Policy
JF - Health Policy
IS - 10
ER -
