Navigating a Covid World: The European Union’s Internal Rebirth and External Quest

Abstract

The world on which Covid-19 has unleashed its destructive force is one where the partly supranational and multilateral-minded EU is ill at ease. The pandemic has devastated economies across the world and exacerbated pre-existing dynamics of growing geopolitical rivalry and the declining clout of multilateral regimes and practices. The EU's response to the Covid shock has been twofold: on the one hand, it has embarked on a new integration effort, with the contours of a 'transfer union' emerging for the first time in EU history; on the other hand, it has failed to use the crisis to advance its strategic autonomy agenda. The reason for this dichotomy is that, while the severity of the Covid emergency has shifted public and elite attitudes towards economic solidarity, the lingering commitment to the US has worked as a brake on a similar trend in European foreign policy preferences.

Populism, Austerity and Governance for Sustainable Development in Troubled Times: Introduction to Special Issue

“…The pandemic has served to amplify the impacts of both populism and austerity politics. While the pandemic has seen preferences shift towards greater EU integration, not least because EU fiscal solidarity is seen as the best chance to mitigate the immense damage that pandemic related lockdowns have inflicted on the economy of EU member states [82], overall, the pandemic has exacerbated populist tendencies. It has allowed specific leaders to utilize institutions to implement policies that are either outside of their original remit or run contrary to the usual functioning of state institutions, generating high levels of institutional volatility and uncertainty [36].…”

European Union’s Indo-Pacific Strategy: Policy Implications For India

“…The Trump Administration hardly showed any interest in cultivating ties with Europe, perhaps motivating the EU’s drive for greater self-reliance in matter of security and economics, and a determined attempt to emerge as another key global player alongside the US and China. There was some relief in the EU after the election of Joe Biden as the US President because of his stated desire to revive the ties with the European allies (Alcaro & Tocci, 2021).…”