Contested Governance of Collective Action Against AMR in the EU

Book chapter, 2023

The global health issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) brings difficult governance challenges at both the national and international level. The chapter provides insights into how these governance dynamics are spelled out in the European context. First, the chapter reports from an original survey to senior public servants working on AMR on their perceptions regarding which institution or actor that they believe should take the lead in governing AMR in Europe. Secondly, it describes the changing governance landscape in European public health that is currently under significant transformation as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings show an interesting mismatch between idealism and realism; although experts and citizens maintain that AMR should best be tackled at the global level orchestrated by the WHO, they tend to favour EU authority. The findings are discussed in light of the higher position of the EU in public health policy and the implications this brings for the governance of the collective action efforts to reduce AMR.