The europeanization of the covid-19 pandemic response and the EU’s solidarity with Italy

Abstract

Since 2008, the European Union has faced a multitude of challenges including the international financial crisis and the Syrian migration crisis. These not only created a crisis within the EU, leaving many wondering whether the European project would survive, but they highlighted the lack of solidarity amongst its member states. These issues would again be brought to the fore with the Covid-19 pandemic, which has been an especially challenging issue for Italy. The country was still recovering from the 2008 financial crisis when it became the epicentre of the pandemic in Europe. For this reason, it requested the support of the EU to try to contain. However, the EU initially struggled to provide any support. This article evaluates the role of Europeanization in the EU’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and Italy’s request for support. By evaluating speeches delivered by EU and Italian politicians; and by analysing the initial measures introduced by the various EU institutions, this study highlights that there was a top-down impact of Europeanization. In fact, the EU introduced various health and economic policies to help Italy and the other states struggling with the Covid-19 pandemic even though it did not act as swiftly as expected. The reason for this is that like its member states, the EU found itself unprepared to deal with the pandemic. The study will also highlight the limitations surrounding the concept of solidarity as, even though the Covid-19 pandemic challenged EU member states, they struggled to work together to contain the virus.