LA TUTELA DELLA SALUTE TRA COMPETENZE DELL’UNIONE EUROPEA E DEGLI STATI MEMBRI

The aim of this article is to show the relevance of healthcare in current EU Law and Policy. Various provisions of the TFEU make explicit reference to healthcare, reflecting the potential impact of EU actions in this field. Nevertheless, public health is a matter essentially reserved to national policies, especially for what concerns the choices relating to the management of healthcare systems. This study points out different legal bases that allow the EU to adopt either harmonizing acts or ‘incentive measures’ to Member States’ actions in order to protect and improve human health. Within this framework of complementary (and overlapping) competences, it is worth examining to what extent individual needs are taken into consideration in the ECJ’s case-law, particularly in light of the specific provision of healthcare in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (Art. 35). So far, the Court has not made reference to the fundamental individual right ‘to have access to preventive health care and to benefit from medical treatment’ as set out in the first sentence of Art. 35. Indeed, this study highlights the Court’s recent attitude towards relying extensively on the objective of attaining a high level of protection of human health (Art. 35, second sentence of the Charter), in connection with public policy interests. While dealing with the proportionality of restrictions to fundamental rights and freedoms stemming from EU or Member States acts aiming at the protection of health, the Court often strikes a balance with the other rights at stake, acknowledging the primary role of human health among the interests protected in EU Law.

1. Introduzione. – 2. Le competenze dell’Unione europea e il “nocciolo duro” dei poteri degli Sttai membri in campo sanitario. – 3. Le misure dell’Unione europea di sostegno, coordinamento e completamento dell’azione degli Stati membri a protezione della salute umana. – 4. La competenza concorrente in ordine a “problemi comuni di sicurezza in materia di sanità pubblica”. – 5. Basi giuridiche per l’armonizzazione normativa in materia sanitaria da parte dell’Unione europea. – 6. La giurisprudenza della Corte di giustizia sulla competenza dell’Unione europea ad adottare atti di armonizzazione in materia sanitaria. – 7. La protezione della salute alla luce dell’art. 35 della Carta dei diritti fondamentali. – 8. La (limitata) rilevanza dell’art. 35 della Carta a sostegno di pretese individuali. – 9. Il riferimento a norme di diritto primario diverse dall’art. 35 della Carta nel riconoscimento di spazi di tutela della salute per i singoli individui. – 10. La salute come bene pubblico e il suo bilanciamento con altri diritti e libertà sanciti dal diritto primario dell’Unione europea.