EUROPE DAY/Iulian Chifu: European unity will be visible especially in post-pandemic recovery plans

European unity will be visible especially in the recovery plans following the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, a health crisis that has brought to discussion the idea of democracy, as well as the idea of leadership, analyst Iulian Chifu told AGERPRES on Friday. He spoke about the prospects that the health crisis has brought to the European Union ahead Europe Day on Saturday. Chifu showed how the member states reacted to the pandemic. "Everyone dealt first with their own problems, with their own citizens, but immediately had a reaction at European level, one of solidarity. The European Union itself has quite limited responsibilities in the pandemic crisis. It acted with humanitarian support and preparations for economic recovery. On the other hand, the states themselves, after the initial moment, when their main concern was with their own citizens, began to support the states that were hardest hit, Italy in the first place," said Chifu. In his opinion, "European unity will be visible in particular with these recovery plans, already agreed by the European Council, toward which all the member states have participated and where those that are better placed, such as Germany, have even increased contribution in order to be able to overcome this moment." According to the analyst, among the post-pandemic issues there will be issues that were previously addressed at the European Union level, and others will gain more weight. "The ecological issue will remain, because, one way or another, it is related to the health crisis. On the other hand, of course, new elements and new crises appear. Let's not forget that this health crisis, the coronavirus pandemic crisis, came with a number of lessons learned, but it has accelerated some of its processes. I think the main one will be the health system everywhere in the European countries - the quality of doctors, the products needed for a pandemic," he said. Chifu mentioned to the point discussions on European strategic autonomy and the prospect of having the necessary products on European soil in the event of a new crisis. "So there will be the repatriation of production from China, its return to European soil and taking over even production that is of low added value compared to those with high technology; bringing it back to Europe and possibly replacing Chinese cheap labour with robots manufactured in Europe," Chifu explained. At the same time, the analyst said that during this period there was also an "information war." "We have seen reports on the situation and actions of Russia and China against the European Union and European unity, in an attempt to deepen even more the gaps, the differences between the European Union and the United States," the analyst said. Also in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, Chifu said there will probably be "relevant changes in democracy." "In times of crisis there is no need for populism and grandiose statements because they do not help you, what do help are serious people, facts, actions that belong to serious parties and politicians. So we will have some changes, such as those aimed at bringing back to the forefront of politics the professional elites, the natural elites of each nation, a situation that has been somewhat lost lately as a result of its chase after image gains and votes, which eluded the quality of politicians. We have a whole debate at the level of the leadership crisis. At the European level we are talking about the disappearance of the great leaders, the great figures who led to the constitution of Europe. There is a reckoning to be had there as well," said Chifu. According to him, even the process of defining the future of Europe will be placed "in the new context of a crisis that has accelerated and overlapped other crises and accelerated the evolutions of today's world." The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic calls into question the possible new responsibilities that Brussels will have in similar situations in the future, the expert added. "At a European level we will probably see to what extent the states will agree to give away certain new powers in a pandemic crisis, generic or health-wise to Brussels, to a greater extent; to what extent it will try to accommodate the policies of the different states on this dimension as well or, on the contrary, things will be very clearly and distinctly remain the responsibility of the nation-states; but then the demands on Brussels should no longer arise, especially as they were conveyed in the area of anti-European propaganda, pointing the finger at Brussels, which, in fact, had no responsibilities in that field," Chifu said. Europe Day has been observed every year on May 9 since 1985, when a decision was made at the Milan European Council to create the holiday. The date marks the day on which the Schuman Declaration was issued. Seventy years ago, on May 9, 1950, five years after WWII, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed, in a speech, to place the production of coal and steel under the control of a common authority, this way to control arms production and make sure that a future military conflict could be avoided. The proposal is seen as the cornerstone of today's European Union. AGERPRES (RO - author: Oana Ghita, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)