Iverksettingen av EUs pasientrettighetsdirektiv i Norge. Mot en mer markedsorientert spesialisthelsetjeneste?

Abstract

The paper elaborates on the implementation of the Directive on patients’ rights in cross-border health care in Norway from two interrelated angles.

1) The relationship between the over-national and national levels of policy-making. The Directive may be seen as part of an over-national juridification process, where the EU system plays an important political role in the development of welfare services at the national level within the EU/EEA area. It is, for example, reasonable to interpret the Directive as part of an over-national strategy to create a common European health market. How has this affected Norwegian law in the field of special health care?

2) Highlighting the relationship between consumer rights (the market) and social rights (the welfare state). The paper focuses specifically on iverksettingen av EUs pasientrettighetsdirektiv i norge 109 how a trade-off between individual freedom and public needs and interests has been made in Norway. It examines if the Directive reinforces the importance of consumer rights at the expense of social rights. If so, what are the possible consequences for national priorities within the special health service?

It is, however, important to study the interrelation between the Directive and independent national political processes concerning distribution of health services. In Norway, the importance of patients’ individual choice of hospitals and treatment (public and private) have been emphasised during the last years. Hence, the Directive may reinforce an ongoing national development towards a «marketization» of the Norwegian health sector.