The Covid-19 Challenge and the EU: Op-ed

The COVID-19 pandemic, arising in a period when the European Union (EU) struggles with many difficulties, such as the Euro crisis, the refugee pressure, Brexit and the rise of populism, is a significant challenge that can affect the EU to a considerable extent.

The fact that the extent and severity of the pandemic had not been realized for a while, the pandemic coincided with the period of shaping the EU institutions for 2019-2024, health policies fell within the Member States' exclusive competence and institutionally the EU do not have the necessary powers and sources to manage crises, as well as the divisions within the Union has led the questioning of the EU.
Time will show us whether this crisis will lead to deepening of geographical, economic and political divisions among the EU Member States, namely north-south and east-west, and strengthening the role of nation states while weakening the supranational tendencies within the Union.

As of the second half of March, the EU, as an institutional structure, has gained control of the crisis management and established the solidarity and cooperation to a great extent. Within this context, the EU has set up a joint procurement mechanism in order to supply the urgent needs of the Member States in terms of health products; enabled the Member States to rapidly use various EU funds; provided safeguards concerning free movement of goods through implementation of green lanes within the Schengen area and contiguous regions; increased the investments on vaccine and treatment research and made common efforts for the return of the EU citizens home.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the ever-increasing interdependency of the globalized world as well as the incapacity of the nation states to fight the...

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