In any circumstances this book would be one of the best works on European Union health policy and law, and a notable contribution to research on law and society or the European Union in general  In the circumstances of COVID-19 it is also one of the most important  Anniek de Ruijter's book is almost the only work of law or social science scholarship to explain European Union communicable disease control policy and politics  That makes the book necessary reading for those interested in learning what the European Union did and might do in public health during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, or why it was so seemingly invisible early in the pandemic