Covid-19 Crisis and European Integration

Abstract

Recently, the Covid-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine have emphasized the question of the ‘raison d’ê̂tre’ of the European Union. These two crises have been the catalyzing processes revealing the nature of European integration through the shock waves and pressures on Europe. This research aims at analyzing the theoretical question of the relationship between crisis and integration – “Does crisis bring about integration?” - through a concrete case study. The covid-19 crisis seems to have so far strengthened European integration. However the European reaction to covid-19 crisis has not automatically and mechanically led to integration like the often cited formula of Jean Monnet. The first impact of the covid-19 crisis was rather the destruction of one of the most substantial achievements of European integration; Not only the freedom of movement had to be suspended to prevent disease expansion, but member-states also demonstrated non cooperative behaviour. It is only in a second step that Europe reacted cooperatively through policy integration on both health and financial sectors, with strong potential for further structural reinforcement. The main focus of this article is to describe those factors which form the basis of the macro-linkage between the covid-19 crisis and European integration in the period 2020-2023. I conclude by raising the need to compare this European covid-19 crisis study with other regions or/and other European crises.