Crisis context and the community of fate

Abstract

Recent crises have spurred efforts at reform in specific areas of the European Union, particularly in the domain of economic and monetary union. It is evident that issues linked to the reform of the Economic and Monetary Union are unavoidable in the face of the economic consequences of the Covid-19 crisis. Deep integration among euro-area members calls for higher degrees of mutuality and risk-sharing. The underlying question they face concerns the extent to which the European integration process - as well as the concept of the Economic and Monetary Union in particular - is commensurate with the idea of the community of fate. The Covid-19 pandemic crisis highlights the challenge of effective collective action and its embeddedness in pre-legal and pre-market relationships, which are not contractual in nature. They are social bonds that serve as the foundation for both trust and cooperation.