Editor's Note

Scott Greer, the guest editor, and Margitta Mätzke introduce this special issue. The issue emerged out of a conference Scott organized in Europe back in 2010. Interestingly, the timing of this publication on EU public health regulation is particularly well situated, given all the current press and attention to EU financial regulation. There are some amazing parallels in the challenges these two regulatory domains face, and thinking comparatively as you read the issue will be fruitful. Another comparative reflection to consider is public health regulation in the United States compared with the EU. As several authors in this issue note, the US CDC has a relatively high level of scientific authority and more regulatory power than one might expect from the American states. Perhaps this is an interesting US anomaly — or perhaps there is something more systematic afoot? More conceptual thinking as to why this is the case would be useful for future research.