University of Edinburgh Researchers Publish New Studies and Findings in the Area of Globalization and Health (Why meta-regulation matters for public health: the case of the EU better regulation agenda): Health and Medicine – Globalization and Health

2023 OCT 03 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A new study on globalization and health is now available. According to news reporting originating from the University of Edinburgh by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Meta-regulation - the rules that govern how individual policies are developed and reviewed - has not received much attention in the study of health policy.”

Financial supporters for this research include Medical Research Council.

Our news reporters obtained a quote from the research from University of Edinburgh: “We argue that these rules, far from value-free and objective, have significant potential to shape policy outputs and, as such, health outcomes. Channelling and operationalising wider paradigms like neoliberalism, they determine, for instance, what is considered ‘good’ policy, how decisions are made, based on which evidence, and whose voices matter. Exploring an archetypal example of meta-regulation, the European Union’s Better Regulation agenda, we illustrate why meta-regulatory tools such as impact assessment, stakeholder consultation, and evaluation - and the norms that underlie their application - matter for health. In so doing, we concentrate especially on the ways in which Better Regulation may affect interest groups’ ability to exert influence and, conversely, how actors have sought to shape Better Regulation. We argue that attention to meta-regulation contributes to counter-balancing the focus on agency within debates at the intersection of globalisation and health, and notably those on regulatory practices and coordination. Whilst research has noted, for instance, the origins of frameworks like Better Regulation and the increasing inclusion of ‘good regulatory practice’ provisions within trade and investment agreements, less attention is directed to the role that these frameworks play once institutionalised.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Yet, as we illustrate, there is considerable scope for meta-regulation to enhance our understanding of the forces shaping health policy via, for instance, conceptualisations of the (social, economic, political, commercial) determinants of health. As such, we call for increased attention to the role of meta-regulation in research and practice aimed at improving human and planetary health.”

For more information on this research see: Why meta-regulation matters for public health: the case of the EU better regulation agenda. Globalization and Health, 2023,19(1):1-9. (Globalization and Health - http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/). The publisher for Globalization and Health is BMC.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-023-00971-4.

Our news journalists report that more information may be obtained by contacting Kathrin Lauber, Global Health Policy Unit, School of Social and Political Science, Chrystal Macmillan Building, 15a George Square, University of Edinburgh. Additional authors for this research include Eleanor Brooks.

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