Suchergebnisse

The European national health systems - Bismarckian pay-as-you-go systems as well as Beveridge systems financed by taxes - are characterized by redistribution within and between generations. Both types are more or less similar in their mode of functioning and both bear inefficiencies in many fields. The lack of resistance towards demographical changes is a threat for the stability of these systems, even without migration. Yet in a world with migration, the problem of instability has to be considered also from a different angle. Competition of health systems could induce financial difficulties or even the collapse of redistribution within these systems. This problem is even more relevant if the Enlargement of the Union continues and heterogeneity of the social and medical services granted by the states grows. Which measures have therefore to be taken to stabilize the national health systems within the European Union, where the right of freedom of movement is granted to every citizen? Is harmonization or even centralization an efficient solution to choose? In this article it is argued that reforms of the national health systems are necessary to overcome the problems induced by migration. The main step to be taken is the separation of both the intragenerational and the intergenerational distribution from the insurance system. This is inevitable to provide an efficient health care system at the national level and to insure the freedom of movement in the European Union without undermining the solidarity of the insurance pool.

The European national health systems - Bismarckian pay-as-you-go systems as well as Beveridge systems financed by taxes - are characterized by redistribution within and between generations. Both types are more or less similar in their mode of functioning and both bear inefficiencies in many fields. The lack of resistance towards demographical changes is a threat for the stability of these systems, even without migration. Yet in a world with migration, the problem of instability has to be considered also from a different angle. Competition of health systems could induce incen-tives for inefficient migration within the European Union. This problem is even more relevant if the Enlargement of the Union continues and heterogeneity of the social and medical services granted by the states grows. Which measures have therefore to be taken to stabilize the national health systems within the European Union, where the right of freedom of movement is granted to every citizen? Is harmonization or even centralization an efficient solution to choose? In this article it is argued that reforms of the national health systems are necessary to overcome the problems induced by migration. The main step to be taken is the separation of both the intragenerational and the intergenerational distribution from the insurance system. This is inevitable to provide an efficient health care system at the national level and to insure the freedom of movement in the European Union without undermining the solidarity of the insurance pool.

Schwerfälligere Entscheidungsstrukturen sind nach Auffassung des Europa-Abgeordneten Brok der Preis für ein Mehr an Demokratie und Föderalismus. Die Bundesländer, so Brok, tragen ein hohes Maß an europapolitischer Verantwortung, bei deren Ausübung sachliche, nicht etwa populistische Argumente gefragt sind. Wer die Rechte der deutschen Bundesländer in der EU für überdehnt hält, der fördert zwangsläufig Zentralismus und Regelungsdichte durch die EU, so Borkenhagen. Europa-Politik gelinge besser, wenn Regionen und Länder von ihren Mitwirkungsrechten Gebrauch machten. (DGAP-IP)

"Lange Zeit war die deutsch-französische Partnerschaft die Conditio sine qua non für Fortschritte im europäischen Integrationsprozess. Doch seitdem die Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion verwirklicht ist, fehlt beiden Ländern ein gemeinsames Projekt. Dies zeigt der Streit um den Stabilitäts- und Wachstumspakt ebenso wie die Diskussion um die Finanzierung der EU-Osterweiterung oder die künftige Europäische Verfassung. Im Kern geht es bei den Auseinandersetzungen um die politische Machtbalance innerhalb der Europäischen Union." (Autorenreferat)