EU Economic Governance: Erosion or Integration?

Abstract

The balance with regard to European integration during the coronavirus pandemic is mixed. European integration was particularly limited in the original phase of the crisis when each Member State only looked after the health protection of its own citizens. European integration worked much better during the second phase — short-term macro-economic stabilization — when the European Central Bank prevented a major economic crisis without much delay. The third phase of the pandemic, with a focus on the compensation of companies and workers for lockdown policies, rather speaks in favor of disintegration, given the extremely different abilities of EU Member States to support national companies. Finally, during the fourth phase, we are witnessing a clear measure of integration, with the temporary doubling of the EU level budget via the Next Generation EU fund. Given this wild ride, it is difficult to say whether post-coronavirus capitalism will see a more or less integrated European Union. It very much depends on the measure applied: if the focus is on institutional change, the creation of new agencies and budgets speaks in favour of integration. If the focus is on an equitable development throughout Europe and on harmonious relations between European societies, the assessment is negative.