Calls for a European Health Union apparently challenge long-standing beliefs that national healthcare system organisation is a Member State competence. Interaction between Member State and European Union (EU) levels therefore fundamentally requires reflection in the design, overall structure and legal basis of any European Health Union. Article 168(7) Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides the current version of the seemingly limited EU competence with regards to national healthcare system organisation and has received surprisingly little attention thus far. On the one hand, within the wider EU health competence ‘web’, Article 168(7) TFEU constrains EU adoption of measures incentivising Member States to use particular treatments or to increase intensive care units in response to COVID-19. On the other hand, Article 168(7) TFEU is challenged by the perceived influence of Country-Specific Recommendations issued in the context of the European Semester on national health policies. This opinion piece provides an original assessment of Article 168(7) TFEU to argue that Treaty change to redress the balance between EU and Member State competence regarding national healthcare systems may be uncalled for given both the flexibility afforded by the provision and the complexity and diversity of Member State healthcare systems.

中文翻译：

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迈向欧洲卫生联盟：成员国的角色是什么？

呼吁建立欧洲卫生联盟显然挑战了长期以来的信念，即国家医疗保健系统组织是成员国的能力。因此，成员国和欧盟 (EU) 层面之间的互动从根本上需要反思任何欧洲卫生联盟的设计、整体结构和法律基础。欧盟运作条约 (TFEU) 第 168 条第 (7) 款提供了当前版本的欧盟在国家医疗保健系统组织方面看似有限的能力，但迄今为止几乎没有受到关注。一方面，在更广泛的欧盟卫生能力“网络”中，TFEU 第 168(7) 条限制欧盟采取措施鼓励成员国使用特定治疗或增加重症监护病房以应对 COVID-19。另一方面，TFEU​​ 第 168(7) 条受到在欧洲学期期间发布的国家特定建议对国家卫生政策的感知影响的挑战。本意见书提供了对 TFEU 第 168(7) 条的原始评估，认为鉴于该条款提供的灵活性以及复杂性和多样性，可能不需要修改条约以纠正欧盟和成员国在国家医疗保健系统方面的能力之间的平衡成员国医疗保健系统。