The EU may thus steer and shape a particular understanding of quality of care, despite different quality norms and standards between and within its MemberStates. Especially considering quality and quality policy there are cultural differences as well as practical and institutional concerns between and within countries which may lead them to, e.g., prefer different combinations of specialized and non-specialized services, different degrees of centralization and decentralization and different thresholds for medical vs surgical intervention. Apart from thequestion whether standards may enhance quality of careat all, they may also impose a particular understanding of (quality of) care which would not necessarily suit the needs and desires of individual patients embedded in different national cultural contexts across the EU. A uniform EU quality improvement system would therefore not only be unfeasible, but also undesirable. In this respect,the restraint of Member States to give the EU more legal say on matters of quality of care would be rather justified.