Resilience of the European Union as a determinant of its post-pandemic development

Abstract

The article examines the category of “resilience” in the modern discourse of the European Union, its essence and characteristic features. The aim of the paper is to chart the complex process of the belated response of Brussels to the pandemic in the light of the concept of resilience of the Union, examining in detail the reasons for taken measures and its consequences for its future development, defining future scenarios. On the basis of the analysis, it is concluded that in modern conditions, resilience from an external category has gradually become internal for the EU. Moreover, this is relevant for the EU development in the context of today’s COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges to European unity that it has caused. The authors review the key measures taken by EU institutions and bodies to combat the pandemic and provide economic assistance to member states to overcome its negative consequences. Based on the analysis carried out, three scenarios for the further development of the EU are proposed, and an opinion is expressed on the need to further ensure the resilience of the Union itself. Since, in any case, the pandemic has demonstrated that the era of nation states in the region is finally a thing of the past, and Europe needs much greater unity and cohesion.