The emergence of post‐Westphalian health governance during the Covid‐19 pandemic: the European Health Union.

The response to the Covid‐19 pandemic in 2020–21 was dominated by the Westphalian primacy of national territory and sovereignty, significantly worsening and prolonging this crisis. Global platforms for cross‐border coordination and cooperation were constrained by national self‐interest. Arguably, the lack of a worldwide supranational (or post‐Westphalian) authority in health governance is one important structural reason for the fragmented, chaotic, and ineffective response to Covid‐19. The failure of Westphalian governance responses to the pandemic provides a unique opportunity for post‐Westphalian governance structures to be established and contribute to reforming international pandemic preparedness. While this is unlikely to happen soon at the global level, a comprehensive framework is emerging at the European Union level in the form of a European Health Union. Through a combined conceptualisation of supranational governance and the securitisation process of international health crises, Covid‐19 has opened the door to post‐Westphalian health governance coordinated by the European Commission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]