How the pandemic could herald a new boost for the EU
In spite of the prevailing consensus that the EU is threatened by the arrival of COVID-19 and its devastating effect on our societies and economies, the need for effective international institutions has never been greater.
Much has been said about the significant action of nation-states during this crisis, including in Europe. And it's true, the states of the EU have had to deploy significant support programmes in order to prop up their economies and have largely been responsible for the emergency measures, such as border closures, that have been enacted to slow the spread of the virus. But it would be wrong to consider this some kind of watershed moment, marking a break with a previous era.
The reality is that this division of labour - where the EU focuses on a select number of European issues and the nation-states manage most significant policy decisions - isn't a particular marker of this crisis. It's not even a particular marker of crises in general. It's actually a perfect reflection of how decisions get made in Europe every single day.
No country in Europe is impacted more by EU decisions than by the decision of its national government enacting national policies. The idea that there has ever been a moment where the European institutions have had some kind of upper hand over the nation-states is false - they have always been subordinate to the states. Indeed, every bit of European policy has to go through the national government anyway - even European action is not separate from national action.
Maybe you could argue that people will put less value on the EU now that they can see how much more their national governments can do when pushed. But let's remember that not long ago we were also being told that people would lose faith in the EU because it prevented the national governments from doing enough. At some point, the only conclusion is that some commentary just assumes that the EU is always the problem and that the arguments are rearranged in order to fit that predestined conclusion.
Then again, does the argument this time have any merit? The motives of commentators do not themselves undermine an argument after all. Could it be, as some would have it, that the great surge in intervention by nation-states will convince people that the EU is unnecessary? It seems unlikely and the facts as we have them today do not support this idea.
As the pandemic subsides and states look to remove lockdowns and relaunch their economies, what do we actually see? We see a Europe where national sovereignty has been pushed to its max, often with little else left to give. Governments have exploited every trick and scheme they can, and still many economies are left on their knees. Countries which had rushed to close borders are now anxious to reopen them, fearing the damage that is being done with every day that passes.
Is there a crisis of confidence in some parts of Europe? Yes. But in countries like Italy, citizens despair that Europe isn't doing more, they are not wishing for it to do less.
When Europe's national governments ask the Commission to plan a recovery fund or coordinate trade flows across the internal borders through open lanes, when the ECB launches massive bond-buying programmes, what we see is not the strength of the nation-state but the original purpose of the EU: to prevent the self-destructive tendencies of nationalism and to do for the nation-states what they cannot do for themselves.
As we move into the second half of this year, there will be strong calls for a concerted and determined European response. It will not only require immediate reconstruction funds to deal with the crisis, it will also need a further step in European integration. Ideally, this would lead to a repurposing of the Convention on the Future of Europe, pulling on the views of citizens to establish a skeleton federal constitution, integrating monetary and fiscal policy and transferring the relevant powers from the Commission to a new European executive drawn from the two legislative chambers of Europe, the Council and the Parliament. This framework, transitional federal government would then be able to properly direct the economic recovery of the next few years to the benefit of all of Europe, taking over from the tired nation-states and freeing the European economy from the political constraints of nationalism.
None of this, of course, is guaranteed. It will require brave political leadership and I would be the first to concede that many of today's leaders in Europe are unlikely to be up to the task, being more willing to ask of others than to give from themselves. However, it would be excessive to then assume that nothing will happen at all.
The pressure to take action will still be there and it is far from impossible to imagine that there will be a coordinated financing package to support struggling economies, bringing together many smaller initiatives under one banner, that policies from the European Green Deal will be used to accelerate investment in the technologies of the future and that the ideologues of fiscal conservatism will be forced to accept some kind of temporary redistribution. Would this be enough for the long-term? No, but it would shut the door on any kind of collapse in the EU.
Image via Flickr
Much has been said about the significant action of nation-states during this crisis, including in Europe. And it's true, the states of the EU have had to deploy significant support programmes in order to prop up their economies and have largely been responsible for the emergency measures, such as border closures, that have been enacted to slow the spread of the virus. But it would be wrong to consider this some kind of watershed moment, marking a break with a previous era.
The reality is that this division of labour - where the EU focuses on a select number of European issues and the nation-states manage most significant policy decisions - isn't a particular marker of this crisis. It's not even a particular marker of crises in general. It's actually a perfect reflection of how decisions get made in Europe every single day.
No country in Europe is impacted more by EU decisions than by the decision of its national government enacting national policies. The idea that there has ever been a moment where the European institutions have had some kind of upper hand over the nation-states is false - they have always been subordinate to the states. Indeed, every bit of European policy has to go through the national government anyway - even European action is not separate from national action.
Maybe you could argue that people will put less value on the EU now that they can see how much more their national governments can do when pushed. But let's remember that not long ago we were also being told that people would lose faith in the EU because it prevented the national governments from doing enough. At some point, the only conclusion is that some commentary just assumes that the EU is always the problem and that the arguments are rearranged in order to fit that predestined conclusion.
Then again, does the argument this time have any merit? The motives of commentators do not themselves undermine an argument after all. Could it be, as some would have it, that the great surge in intervention by nation-states will convince people that the EU is unnecessary? It seems unlikely and the facts as we have them today do not support this idea.
As the pandemic subsides and states look to remove lockdowns and relaunch their economies, what do we actually see? We see a Europe where national sovereignty has been pushed to its max, often with little else left to give. Governments have exploited every trick and scheme they can, and still many economies are left on their knees. Countries which had rushed to close borders are now anxious to reopen them, fearing the damage that is being done with every day that passes.
Is there a crisis of confidence in some parts of Europe? Yes. But in countries like Italy, citizens despair that Europe isn't doing more, they are not wishing for it to do less.
When Europe's national governments ask the Commission to plan a recovery fund or coordinate trade flows across the internal borders through open lanes, when the ECB launches massive bond-buying programmes, what we see is not the strength of the nation-state but the original purpose of the EU: to prevent the self-destructive tendencies of nationalism and to do for the nation-states what they cannot do for themselves.
As we move into the second half of this year, there will be strong calls for a concerted and determined European response. It will not only require immediate reconstruction funds to deal with the crisis, it will also need a further step in European integration. Ideally, this would lead to a repurposing of the Convention on the Future of Europe, pulling on the views of citizens to establish a skeleton federal constitution, integrating monetary and fiscal policy and transferring the relevant powers from the Commission to a new European executive drawn from the two legislative chambers of Europe, the Council and the Parliament. This framework, transitional federal government would then be able to properly direct the economic recovery of the next few years to the benefit of all of Europe, taking over from the tired nation-states and freeing the European economy from the political constraints of nationalism.
None of this, of course, is guaranteed. It will require brave political leadership and I would be the first to concede that many of today's leaders in Europe are unlikely to be up to the task, being more willing to ask of others than to give from themselves. However, it would be excessive to then assume that nothing will happen at all.
The pressure to take action will still be there and it is far from impossible to imagine that there will be a coordinated financing package to support struggling economies, bringing together many smaller initiatives under one banner, that policies from the European Green Deal will be used to accelerate investment in the technologies of the future and that the ideologues of fiscal conservatism will be forced to accept some kind of temporary redistribution. Would this be enough for the long-term? No, but it would shut the door on any kind of collapse in the EU.
Image via Flickr
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