Health Strategy and Health Systems Unit, Health and Consumers Directorate General, European Commission
Bernard Merkel, PhD, a British citizen, is currently working with the European Commission to develop an overall EU health strategy as well as undertaking major initiatives on cross-border health care, the health workforce, patient safety and pharmaceuticals policy. Before joining the Commission in 1996, he was for many years a civil servant in the Department of Health and Social Security in the UK. Dr. Merkel has been a Visiting Fellow at LSE Health in the London School of Economics and is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the London School of Hygiene. He is on the Editorial Board of Eurohealth and has written a number of articles on health policy. His training is mainly in the social sciences and he holds a doctorate in political theory.
