The US Supreme Court’s ruling on Obamacare illustrates the weak nature of legal limits placed on the exercise of EU powers

US health care reform has generally been viewed as having only indirect relevance for European countries. Frank Vibert argues, however, that if the legal basis for Obamacare’s Supreme Court approval is interpreted as a guide for court rulings on the enumeration of powers, it should be of great concern to Europeans. He concludes that a possible lesson for the EU is that the ‘principle of conferral’ will not be able to set firm limits on the exercise of EU powers over its member states.