HOW SHOULD PUBLIC-HEALTH POLICY BE DEVELOPED - A CASE-STUDY IN EUROPEAN PUBLIC-HEALTH

Background Article 129 of the Treaty of Pome (as amended at Maastricht ) gave new powers to the European Union (EU) institutions to develop a nd implement public health programmes at EU level, The authors were in vited by the cabinet of Commissioner Flynn to assist the Commission by developing new policy proposals in certain specific areas. Methods Th e approach was agreed with officials of the Public Health Unit (now th e Public Health Directorate) in DG V, Working groups of experts appoin ted to review policy options in five discrete areas. The experts were resident in 13 of the 15 current EU member states, and were employed i n academic departments, in health ministries, in local government, and in nongovernmental organizations. Draft reports were presented to an evaluation panel of additional experts, whose comments contributed to the final report to the Commission. Results The final report consisted of five main chapters, corresponding to the work of the five working groups. The recommendations were grouped into those for which implemen tation would be short term, medium term or longer term, and these were summarized as a Plan of Action. Conclusion Five criteria for good pub lic health policy development were satisfied, but the approach used wa s excessively expensive and time-consuming. Some further lessons for f uture policy development work have also been recorded, This work provi ded a fascinating insight into the workings of the EU institutions.