Future-proofing health values: an enhanced role for cross-border healthcare in the EU

The European Union has more influence on public health than its limited formal competences would suggest, and the idea of a European Health Union is still evolving. The same applies to the EU’s shared health values, which date back to 2006 and were conceived in a very different context. This article argues that they should be updated to reflect the pressures health systems face today, and raised to the European level as the foundation of a true European Health Union. Cross-border healthcare is a concrete place to start: tools such as telemedicine and capacity management already exist and can be developed further, as proposed in the Horizon Europe funded FLASH project.