Health equals wealth

By Jennifer Rankin - 01.10.2009 / 04:50 CET

The European Commission has spent years arguing that public health is good for the economy. But when will it be be entrenched in the EU's economic and social policy?

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Fact file

Health and the treaties

The 1992 Maastricht treaty marked a big step forward in the EU's competence for health policy. It stated that the European Community would contribute to ensuring “a high level of human health protection”, and encouraged countries to co-operate accordingly. In the 1997 Amsterdam treaty, EU powers were increased again, with stronger wording that EU action should be directed to improving public health. The subsequent creation of a European Commission department for health and consumer protection gave further impetus to health policy.