1. FROM COAL AND STEEL TO GREEN DEAL
1.2. W HAT IS S OCIAL AND H EALTH P OLICY ?
When examining the terminology of ‘social policy’, Richard M Titmuss defines ‘policy’ as
“principles that govern action directed towards given ends” 38, the general definition of the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary follows a similar logic and refers to ‘policy’ as “a plan of action
37 European Parliament, ‘Legislative Train Schedule’, European Parliament, November 2019, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train.
38 Richard M. Titmuss, ‘What Is Social Policy?’, in Welfare States: Construction, Deconstruction, Reconstruction Volume 1, by Stephan Leibfried and Steffen Mau, An Elgar Reference Collection (Cheltenham, UK;
Northhampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2008).
agreed or chosen by a political party, a business etc.”. 39 If a policy is hereinafter a constructed action initiated by a political party, a business or – for the purpose of this paper – by a government and that this action aims to fulfil certain requirements laid down as its objectives, a question addressing the terminology of ‘social policy’ arises.
The attempt of justly defining the term ‘social policy’ is complicated for several reasons.
Contrarily to economic and monetary policy, social policy coincides several meso-policy areas.
In his article “What is Social Policy?” (2008) Titmuss criticises the delimitation of economic and social policy as both influences, and is influenced by the other.
Article 9 of the TFEU acknowledges the interrelation of both policy areas by describing the necessity of the achievement of the Union’s responsibility to promote economic, social and territorial cohesion as intrinsic factors for the EU’s enduring success and development. 40 Lamping (2005) pursues this train of thought further by criticising the European notion of social policy as a market enabler and completer rather than an “intrinsic element of the integration process. 41 Additionally, Titmuss perceives social policy as a “set of public policies that influence the well-being and life chances of individuals”. 42 However, according to Titmuss, the successful achievement of a positive influence on the well-being of individuals is based on the choices of the actors implementing the policy.
Thus, even social policies heralding in negative effects on the citizens would still be part of this category. The implementation mode of social policies might further vary and eventually characterise the model of social policy the actors will embrace. Social policies might be of a negative integration or a positive integration character. In her book “Social Policy in the European Union”, Anderson makes use of a theory authored by Scharpf, whereas negative integration refers to policies removing barriers while positive integration establishes common
39 Oxford University Press, ed., ‘Policy (Noun)’, in Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, 2021.
40 Anderson, Social Policy in the European Union.
41 Monika Steffen, ed., Health Governance in Europe: Issues, Challenges, and Theories (London; New York:
Routledge, 2005), 21.
42 Titmuss, ‘What Is Social Policy?’
policies applicable to all member states, e.g., minimum wages.43 Further, Anderson notes that the contrasting character of negative and positive integration can also be categorised into conventional and non-conventional social policies. By those means, conventional social policy describes distributive policies whereas non-conventional providing, for instance, legislative frameworks and regulatory boundaries for implementation guidance for conventional policies.
The EU’s social policy is to be classified as non-conventional social policy. 44
Hereinafter, we have defined social policy as a plan of actions, laid out by the key actors, i.e., the governing parties, impinging on the quality of life of individuals. These actions do not necessarily elicit positive outcomes. Furthermore, we have understood, that social policy is not a construct separated from remaining policies but rather interacts with them. However, if the leitmotif of social policy lies within the well-being and the quality of life of the individual, the foremost important policy field associated to social policy ought to be health policy.
The World Health Organization states that “health policy defines health goals at the international, national or local level and specifies the decisions, plans and actions to be undertaken to achieve those goals”. 45 Within the broader understanding of health policy, lies according to Steffen et al. and Anderson various narrow fields of policies including public health policy. If keeping with the definition of the WHO, public health policy is “the art and science of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts of society”. 46 Anderson’s definition of public health policy assents to the WHO’s definition by equally putting forward the necessity of promoting healthy behaviour, ensuring a healthy human environment and controlling the spread of diseases. 47 Steffen et al. however further develop this definition by including that public health policy is to be influenced from outside or from the margin of “the institutional borders of the healthcare sector”. 48
43 Anderson, Social Policy in the European Union, chap. 1.
44 Anderson, chap. 1.
45 ‘World Health Organization’, 2021, https://www.euro.who.int/en/home.
46 ‘World Health Organization’.
47 Anderson, Social Policy in the European Union, chap. 7.
48 Steffen, Health Governance in Europe, 9.
By those means, similarly to social policy, health policy refers on a macro-level to the establishment of roadmaps with the aim of achieving fixed health goals.
Thereof, we can determine social policy as the all-inclusive umbrella term for all policies influencing the quality of life of the individual. Hence, health policy is to be defined as a subordinated policy field to the latter, pursuing the equal objective as social policy, but with a narrower focus – instead of emphasising the comprehensive quality of life and well-being of the individual, health policy highlights the state of health assimilated to the quality of life. In a like manner as social policy, health policy comprises different meso policy fields determining the political direction, the goals, the strategy and the instruments. Occupational health, healthcare systems and public health policy are examples for these meso policy fields.
Public health policy is based on the political direction and defines, as aforementioned, the goals.
The implementation of a health policy strategy and the establishment of instruments ought to follow the guidelines of the political direction aiming to achieve the goals set by the public health policy. Hereinafter, for a health policy to be competent, its public health policy needs to be clearly defined.
In the following part, the European approach to social policy, (public) health policy will be examined on the basis of the basis of these definitions.