Foreign policy dimension of the european integration: Lessons of COVID-19

Abstract

The European solidarity was challenged by the coronavirus pandemic both at institutional regulations and nation-state levels. The presented analysis is based on a review of the official speeches of the heads of European institutions and expert publications of leading European think-tanks and researches demonstrating that the geopolitical dimension of the EU foreign policy today is a new basis for intra-European consolidation in light of growing frustration about the global role of the US and China. The European foreign policy is nevertheless regarded as a new consensus within the integration alliance. Actually, the EU geopolitical role is an updated foundation for domestic consolidation, as it allows to push aside the contradictions on the value-based internal political development, which were clearly associated with the growth of nationalism, and to articulate the external conditions for political identity. The need for a stable consensus on foreign policy priorities creates the preconditions for the formation of new principles of relations with China, the emergence of Africa as a promising area for the application of the common foreign policy and a decrease of interest in integration projects in Eurasia.