title: Public health ethical perspectives on the values of the European Commission's White Paper "Together for Health".
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In 2007 the European Commission issued the White Paper: "Together for Health". Considered the EU Health Strategy for the years 2008-2013, it offers the cornerstones for setting priorities in EU health actions.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The public health framework offered in this strategy is explicitly built on shared values--including the overarching values of universality, access to good quality care, equity and solidarity that reacted to certain health care challenges within the EU. This article analyses the Health Strategy via its ethical scope and considers implications for future health policy making.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Health Strategy and related documents are scrutinised to explore how the mentioned values are defined and enfolded. Additionally, scientific databases are searched for critical discussions of the value base of the Health Strategy. The results are discussed and reasoned from a public health ethical perspective.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Health Strategy is barely documented and discussed in the scientific literature. Furthermore, no attention was given to the value base of the Health Strategy. Our analysis shows that the mentioned values are particularly focussed on health care in general rather than on public health in particular. Besides this, the given values of the Health Strategy are redundant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An additional consideration of consequentialist public health ethics values would normatively strengthen a population-based health approach of EU health policy making.
authors.affiliation: Department of International Health, Maastricht University, School CAPHRI, Maastricht, The Netherlands. Peter.Schroder@maastrichtuniversity.nl
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schröder-Bäck
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Clemens
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Michelsen
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schulte in den Bäumen
authors.forename: Kristine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sørensen
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Borrett
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Brand
mesh_terms: D005062:European Union; D006291:Health Policy; D006292:Health Priorities; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D011050:Policy Making; D011634:Public Health / Q000592:standards*; D011787:Quality of Health Care