Europe amidst a Pandemic: Will the European Union Pass the Test?
Analysis by Joelle El Cheikh, Staff Writer
April 14th, 2020
As the world collectively faces what seems like the making of a new world order, countries are in desperate need of solidarity, unity, and cooperation. It’s a good thing European countries have a union to fall back in times like these, right? Many scholars and experts are worried about the lack of support between the nations, especially on the economic scale. People all across Europe and the world are wondering the same thing: What good is the European Union if national interests are going to overrule the greater good?
Europe quickly became the new hotspot for covid-19 towards the first half of March, hitting Italy the hardest, which prompted Rome to ask for medical supplies from its fellow neighbors. Unfortunately, not one country volunteered to help, but instead, Germany and France decided to do the polar opposite: banning the exports of crucial medical supplies, an act that goes against the norms of the union. Chris Beckerton, an academic at Cambridge University told TIME, “The basic threshold of what it means to live in a community is that you have some collective responsibility to each other that goes beyond your self-interest—and there I have found it pretty shocking.” While worrying about one’s nation can be partially justified, there is no excuse for the lack of coordination, namely with the unilateral closure of borders. The E.U. is built on the foundation of free movement of goods and people, something that was also violated when countries closed their borders, mainly for the sake of preserving their own medical supplies. Nonetheless, Ursula Von Der Leyen, E.U. Commission Chief, announced on March 17th the closure of the bloc’s external borders for 30 days, but only after European countries had acted independently, driven by their own self-interest. President Ursula also re-stated the importance of keeping cross-border transport of supplies moving, especially for medical products.
This would not be the first time the union risks de-integration, with the migration crisis still lingering in the background. With almost 1 million refugees arriving at the E.U borders, nations turned on one another, and left countries like Italy and Greece to fight for themselves. Not to mention the euro-zone crisis of 2008 that re-enforced economic inequalities when wealthier nations turning their back on the financially weakening economies. When Brexit was officially implemented on the first of February, the lack of cooperation between nations reached its peak. It became clear that some countries in the union are considered a “burden” to the greater, more economically powerful countries. Perhaps Britain, unlike other nations, had the courage to be honest about its interests and intentions when it decided to leave the union. Although the U.K still benefits from EU measures, PM Boris Johnson stated that U.K will leave the European Medicines Agency, something that adds to the list of post-Brexit challenges. However, despite the previous issues and misunderstandings, one would think that a global pandemic, threatening the lives of millions, is the ideal time to put all differences aside and act like a unit. Consequently, this all traces back to one question: Should the E.U. be more involved with the affairs of its member states or should it give all the power to national governments?
As a result of the European Union’s mishandling of the situation, some leaders will try and take advantage of the pandemic, just like they did after the euro-zone and refugee crisis. However, as leaders try to exploit the current circumstances to pursue political interests, their people are standing on the opposite side, ready to oppose. Recent polling from Italy suggests that support for the League has slightly declined since the start of the coronavirus. This suggests that once the pandemic reaches an end, people from all over the world are going to have strong opinions on whether their governments succeeded or failed in protecting them, and this includes the E.U. For that reason, the E.U. needs to make sure that it’s exhausting all of its efforts and tools to prove that it is, indeed, effective in times of crisis. Since health and internal border controls are not included in the union’s mandate, efficiency can be difficult to achieve. The solution, in this case, can be financial; an economic package for those struggling to sustain themselves and their families during this time. Ultimately, this also goes back to the golden question on whether the E.U. should have the power to interfere in national affairs in the name of unity. Italian, French and Spanish citizens have shown massive support for each other through acts of kindness as simple as clapping from their balconies. We can only hope that European states can mirror their citizens and support one another, because if not now, then when?