The Outbreak Corona is a crucial test for the European Union. So far, it is failing

The Outbreak Corona is a crucial test for the European Union. So far, it is failing

When the applause began, it was impossible not to get excited. At 8 pm. March 17 people have rejected in the Netherlands of windows and picked up on doorstops a sign of support for medical representatives of fighting the Crown to do. At first it was just a couple of cheers, before the spread of sound across my way to The Hague, in a crescendo of boos and shouts process. Fireworks sounded in the distance. A neighbor had never spoken swerved across the road. It was the warmth and good will of the epitome of what it means to be part of a scene of community in Italy, Spain and France playing the way we come together neighborhoods affected. But these spontaneous acts of solidarity is in stark contrast to what occurs between the States of the European Union. The epicenter of the movement crown turned the other from China to Europe in the first half of March and governments. The pillars that were intended to keep the E.U.-person free movement of goods and wrinkled, like the limits upwards went ahead and panicked governments medical care for their neighbors with little regard to stocks. If E.U. where the president of Ursula von der Leyen Commission announced on March 17 that the Union would close its external borders for 30 days, was as if the E.U. Catching up with the many sides play the closures already established governments. There seemed to be a meeting of like-minded people. If the E.U. brings peace and prosperity for everyone not in crisis mode as their bosses his big ideas speak, to preach linked to the history of different nations through a common set of values ​​in a single project its 446 million citizens. In particular, we can distinguish these ideas faster. “The basic threshold of what it means to live in a community that has a certain collective responsibility to each other beyond your self-interest, and there I found quite shocking,” says Chris Bickerton, a scientist with the Cambridge University and author of the European Union: a town guide. “This shows that the political commitments of governments and leaders are really still national, [and] it seems very hard to think of a common European identity in these circumstances.” The Crown blast is the latest in a long series of crises, the European Union have pushed into existential despair. The crisis of the euro area in 2008 first gave the lie to the dream of a pan-European solidarity, with richer nations abhor any economic success to take to help fight to get those. The refugee crisis in 2015 exacerbated this. As 1 million people in E.U. Once investigations sanctuary limits, governments face each other; there is little support for countries like Italy and Greece on the face of the crisis. The crown came at a time when the impact of these emergencies still linger and the last blow to the great idea of ​​a E.U. politically united threaten to say on the world stage a major role. “This is very suitable with any questions on other crises,” says Susi Dennison, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “We want a Europe that operates globally, and things will be done to work, or if the powerful nationalist rhetoric?” The warning signs came early. While Italy was the first E.U. nation to suffer huge cases and deaths increases, shot Roma fellow Member States for medical devices. It is a country that voluntarily help, any government willing to accumulate their stocks when the virus has come to its own citizens. Some countries, including Germany, banned the export of essential medical care, violating E.U. Rules on the free movement of goods. Then a series of unilateral decisions on closure came E.U. borders, apparently without coordination. France Emmanuel Macron has marked the first closures of Austria and Slovenia “bad decisions” that reflect a back malice 2015 to keep the largest number of European migrants remote limits closed countries. left open with some limitations, but the effectiveness of different approaches has been questioned. For example, Belgium closed all schools, kindergartens, cafes and restaurants, on March 12, but in the Netherlands remained open. So Belgian in the border areas just live next door fries showed up for their beer and chips. Finally, when the Dutch that schools, kindergartens, restaurants and bars may close three days later announced, debt Health Minister Bruno Belgian Bruins “tourism Café.” As E.U. Institutions are struggling to find their role, could create a vacuum for the populist and nationalist forces grow as they have for the euro zone crisis and the refugee crisis. far-right figures have tried the crown, with Matteo Salvini in the Championship in Italy involving migrant boats have carried the virus and the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks of a “clear link” to illegal migration use, though not there is no evidence either to ensure complete. But it is unclear if it will work in the short term. Recent surveys from Italy suggests a small support drop for the championship crown since the beginning of the crisis. human governments they trust for advice, not political opportunists without access to all the facts, says Dennison. “Be the power of an opposition force, the populists are so good to play on, loses some of its effectiveness.” This could be after the peak of the crisis change as nations begin to recover and think about the people that their governments fought for them or not. “Then he played the most space for human disease,” says Dennison. To take over, the E.U. for business needs, like their added value both institutions and show that health checks at borders and are outside of its mandate have a sense in times of crisis, in particular. One option could be a pan-E.U. stimulus package for those who resist the financial implications fight. “If necessary, one massive stimulus,” Philippe Lamberts, co-president says Greens in the European Parliament. Even in this case, it returns to the central union enigma: Where the E.U. more that the issue of national governments in their business or members leave and intervene? The crown can undermine the argument for a pan-European cohesion more ambitious, says Bickerton. “For those who want to build on it, it seems to overcome a very difficult crisis.” None of these basic questions have to navigate in our mind right now, as we try to childcare and daily visits to supermarkets depleted. One day will end the crisis, but E.U. Search soul looks set to last for some time.