Frode Veggeland
Senior Research Scientist
(+47) 922 93 167
frode.veggeland@nibio.no
Place
Oslo
Visiting address
Schweigaards gate 34E, 0191 Oslo
Abstract
I EU er helsepolitikk, helseberedskap og krisehåndtering primært et nasjonalt anliggende. Over tid har likevel medlemslandene styrket samarbeidet på disse områdene. Denne utviklingen har i særlig grad blitt påvirket av EUs behov for å håndtere grenseoverskridende helsetrusler, som kugalskapskrisen, SARS, fugle- og svineinfluensaen, askeskyen fra Island, flere større utbrudd av E. coli, covid-19-pandemien og krigen i Ukraina. De to siste krisene har ført til en akselerering av denne utviklingen gjennom etableringen av et nytt rammeverk for helseberedskap og felles kriserespons på EU-nivå, der sikkerhetshensyn inngår som et sentralt premiss, og gjennom styrkingen av EUs totalberedskap, der helse inngår som en viktig pilar. Noe av dette samarbeidet inngår i Norges samarbeid med EU gjennom EØS-avtalen – andre deler gjør det ikke. Dette skaper utfordringer for Norges beredskap. Basert på antakelser fra teori om goodness of fit analyserer vi hvilke implikasjoner denne utviklingen har for Norge. Artikkelen er basert på en litteraturgjennomgang, dokumentanalyser og intervjuer med sentrale aktører i EU og Norge.
Authors
Frode VeggelandAbstract
This paper examines the World Health Organization (WHO) within the broader context of the post-1945 liberal international order. It begins with a brief historical account of the establishment and development of WHO, emphasizing its role as a central institution for global health governance. Particular attention is given to the role of the European Union’s (EU) member states and the United States (US) in supporting the WHO through financial contributions, personnel secondments, crisis assistance and capacity-building measures. The paper then explores more recent developments, notably the US withdrawal from the WHO during the first and second Trump administrations and the termination of key US aid programs. Finally, the implications of this withdrawal are analysed, both for WHO’s operational capacity and for transatlantic relations, with consequences for challenges such as the global fight against HIV/AIDS, antimicrobial resistance, drug and vaccine development and emergency preparedness. Keywords: World Health Organization; United States; European Union; COVID-19; public health emergency; International Health Regulations
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) ranks among the top three health threats facing the EU. The AMR crisis is characterized as a “creeping crisis” and refers to the development where the increase in AMR causes antibiotics to lose their efficiency and effect—potentially causing millions of deaths. This article explores the EU's efforts to manage the AMR crisis by linking and coordinating different policy sectors. It assumes that institutional factors at the meso‐level, that is, at the level where political strategies are transformed into action, are key to ensure coordination across policy‐sectors and thus successful implementation of inter‐sectorial AMR policies. Drawing on literature on historical institutionalism, we analyze the development of institutional conditions for coordinating the three key sectors of AMR‐governance in the EU: the human health, veterinary, and environmental sectors. The starting point is the observation that the latter sector is considerably less integrated into AMR governance than the other two sectors. The article describes and explains how institutional developments at the meso‐level of AMR governance in the EU (European Commission Directorate‐Generals (DGs), EU agencies) contribute to an inter‐sectoral coordination deficit, or a “blind spot,” in the combat against AMR.