From the DW:
“Coronavirus and the EU: The
nation versus the union?”
EU member states are pressing
ahead with unilateral measures to stop the spread of coronavirus — and the bloc
is no longer sitting in the driver's seat. Cooperation looks different in an
era of pandemic. It's the European Union's internal market which allows for the
free movement of goods, capital, services, and labor. Or rather, it was — at
this point it no longer exists in its familiar form. Though the EU does allow
for borders to be re-erected between member states in strictly-defined
emergency situations, the idea was always that such decisions be made as a
unit. However, with the rapid spread of
the coronavirus and each member state worried that it will be next to succumb
to the epidemic, some members have unilaterally reintroduced border controls.
Some, such as Poland, have closed the borders completely. Others have
introduced travel bans and placed restrictions on the export of medical
goods. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz complained
on Wednesday that when the situation got serious, solidarity did not work in
Europe — though by the same token, his government also introduced unilateral
measures.
Commission can't keep up: To limit the spread of the virus, we need to
work together and act swiftly, the president of the European Council Charles
Michel recently said, while the president of the European Commission, Ursula
von der Leyen, insisted that the sealing of borders should be agreed upon
mutually — after member states had already acted unilaterally. The EU is stuck
playing catch-up — which is not the way the bloc was meant to function. Defending
Germany's decision to close its borders, the country's interior minister, Horst
Seehofer, said that those who did not act at all were "guilty.” He and
most of his colleagues thought that the EU was taking too long to draw up a
common policy and right now no politician wants to be accused of not acting in
time. Not only has passenger traffic come to a near-complete halt in the EU,
but goods traffic has also slowed down considerably. Trucks are backed up at
border crossings. As factories shut down, just-in-time supply chains are at
risk of cracking if they are not already broken. The fact that workers who
commute across borders are stuck in the wrong country is not helping.
Member states have to cooperate: Von der Leyen has argued for a closure of
the external borders of the Union in order to loosen those between member
states. The same logic can be used to control illegal migration — only if the
external borders are strictly policed can individual member states avoid
policing their internal borders. Earlier this week, von der Leyen put forward a
proposal that the EU's external borders be closed for 30 days, which was
approved by all Schengen area member states. The European Commission has become
humble in the face of the coronavirus. On Wednesday, a spokesperson said that
"solidarity, mutual trust, and sincere cooperation should guide our
actions to fight against this pandemic.” However, these guidelines "did
not necessarily call for the abolition of internal border controls." While
the internal market is the Commission's quintessential mandate, it is member
states that are responsible for health policy. This was clear when the crisis
hit Italy and Germany and France at first imposed restrictions on exports of
protective masks so that they themselves would have enough. Germany has now
started sending masks to Italy again. The Commission, for its part, has the
task of ensuring that all member states have access to essential equipment such
as protection masks, ventilators and testing kits.
A question of money: As a recession looms — with the shutdown of
factories and the plunging of the markets — member states are looking to the
European Union to provide financial support. Nobody has forgotten the financial
crisis of 2008 when European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said
that "whatever it takes” would be done to preserve the euro. The
determination must be the same now. On Wednesday night, the ECB announced a
€750 billion Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) and said that the
purchase of public sector securities would continue at least until the end of
the year. French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro
Sanchez welcomed the move. However, just as it did at the height of the euro
crisis, the ECB has its critics, including Markus Ferber, a senior member of
the European Parliament from the European People's Party, who pointed out that
not even the biggest purchase program could repair broken supply chains. He
added that the ECB should not cross the limit on monetary financing and
insisted that the program should end as soon as the economy had recovered. German
Die Linke politician Fabio De Masi disagreed, saying that the ECB's proposed
program was not ambitious enough. He called for a new "coronavirus loan”
to prevent another euro crisis. Both are thinking about the post-coronavirus
era, but De Masi's conclusion is very different. He thinks that millionaires
and billionaires have to be taxed more in order to help reduce public debt
after the crisis. The looming recession could turn into a major financial
crisis. Clemens Fuest, the president of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research
in Munich, fears a return of the European debt crisis and exacerbated quarrels
between member states on how to combat it. Considering the current lack of
solidarity among member states, it seems that little good could come from such
a scenario for Europe.
^ It seems that when
pushed-comes-to-shove the European Union is not much of a union. Rather than working
together and helping each other (especially hard-hit Italy) the member states seem
to only focus on themselves. I am curious to see if this “union” will last after
this pandemic is over. I had doubts after Brexit and now have serious doubts it
will continue in anything other than name. ^
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