Health policy lobbying in the European Union

Like other areas of EU regulatory policy, lobbying in health policy is driven by policy-makers’ need for information and shaped by the particular competences, resources, and role of the EU in the health field. Despite a weak legal mandate and limited EU responsibilities, more interest groups are found in the health policy arena than most others, reflecting the technical nature of much health regulation, the European Commission's need for a supportive constituency, and the role of exogenous drivers, such as court rulings, in prompting interest group activity. This chapter presents a case study of health lobbying in the context of the ‘better regulation’ agenda, which increasingly shapes lobbying in health and other EU policy fields. The better regulation agenda seeks to make the EU policy process more participatory and transparent, by guiding processes of consultation, impact assessment, and evaluation, but is not yet well-documented in the EU lobbying literature.