The plans for empowering the European Union authorities in comparison with the authorities of the countries of the association have shown their failure in the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. This was stated in an interview with the Daily Polish Newspaper by Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Chaputovic.

“Sovereignty, that is, the highest power, is at the level of the state, not European institutions. Poland, like other member countries, has introduced emergency measures, such as closing borders, quarantine, termination of institutions, schools or banning of mass gatherings, ”the Polish diplomat TASS quotes.

According to Chaputovich, during the crisis it is precisely “the states that make up the community take responsibility for the safety of their citizens.”

“This showed that the idea of ​​reformatting the EU with giving it the highest power, for example, in the field of security, when faced with a crisis, was absolutely unrealistic,” the minister said.

At the same time, Chaputovich noted that the European Union will continue to exist as long as "it will be in the interests of its members."

According to Konstantin Voronov, Head of Regional Problems and Conflicts at the Department of European Political Studies, IMEMO RAS, the coronavirus pandemic revealed the old problems of the European Union.

“The discrepancies of a number of countries in their views and expectations from Brussels’s policies, as well as from the support that they counted on in the EU states, including Poland, became apparent. The current situation, when the leadership of the Union cannot quickly respond to such a threat as a pandemic, causes discontent in the ruling circles of European countries, ”the analyst said in a conversation with RT.

He recalled that not only Warsaw did not like what was happening. Dissatisfaction with the policies of the European bureaucrats was expressed by Italy, Hungary, the Baltic countries, the Balkan states.

“They are all skeptical of Brussels’s ability to resolve the crisis,” Konstantin Voronov emphasized.  

“Not suited to quick response”

Recall that the actions of Brussels in a pandemic were criticized in a number of countries of the European Union. Most of all, the EU leadership was dissatisfied with Italy, which was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Back in early March, the Italian representative to the EU, Maurizio Massari, said that Brussels’s inaction regarding his country showed a lack of unity within the association.

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“Italy asked to activate the EU civil defense mechanism for the supply of medical equipment for personal protection. But, unfortunately, not a single EU country has responded to the appeal of the European Commission, ”the official said in an article for Politico.

Instead of Brussels, Beijing and Moscow came to the aid of Rome. China urgently launched a mechanism for the supply of medical equipment and personal protective equipment. In addition, Beijing sent medical personnel to Italy to assist in the fight against coronavirus.

Russia sent 15 military aircraft to the Apennine Peninsula with medical assistance and doctors of necessary specialties.

The steps taken by the EU leadership to counter COVID-19 have also been criticized by Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, who has stated on the state-owned ETV channel that there are “questions about EU solidarity.”

“The European Union today is actually not coping with its main task - to ensure the functioning of a single market. The main function of the EU is that we have a single economic space, the free movement of labor, goods, services and capital. We have obvious problems with at least three of these components, ”said the Estonian leader. 

The fact that European solidarity does not exist, was also announced by the President of Serbia, Alexander Vučić. Recall that for eight years the country has been in the status of a candidate for accession to the European Union.

Similar ideas are voiced in Germany. Thus, Bernd Lange, a member of the European Parliament from the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), said that the actions of the European Commission to combat coronavirus are disappointing. His words are quoted by Der Spiegel. A similar position is shared by Francis Brantner, representative of the Green Party on European policy issues. She believes that the coronavirus pandemic has shown the inability of EU countries to unite in a crisis. Moreover, in her opinion, no one in Brussels took the initiative to organize a unified response to the threat.

At the same time, German deputies note that the reaction of the leadership of the European Union to the new challenge was too late.

According to Konstantin Voronov, dissatisfaction with the policy of Brussels in the EU will only increase.

“Moreover, the coronavirus continues to spread in European countries. And European officials will somehow have to level out general dissatisfaction, ”the analyst said.

According toVladimir Olenchenko, Senior Researcher at the Center for European Studies, IMEMO RAS, the EU structure in its current form is "not adapted for quick and flexible response to complex challenges."

The expert also believes that criticism from Poland towards the EU leadership is caused not only by general problems within the Union, but also by Warsaw’s “claims to leadership” in Europe. 

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“Including for this reason, the Polish authorities are now fronts and are trying to clearly indicate their position. Moreover, Warsaw is offended that the EU leadership often makes decisions without her participation. And the situation with the coronavirus pandemic is no exception. In addition, a conflict has ripened between Poland and the European Commission. The EC accuses the Polish authorities of non-compliance with EU principles, in particular the rules of separation of powers, ”the expert said in a conversation with RT.

Recall that Poland adopted a law amending the procedure for appointing judges, which, among other things, reduced the retirement age of judges of the Supreme Court and gave the Minister of Justice the right to extend their authority. Such a measure of Warsaw caused criticism and discontent of Brussels.

Change concept

According to analysts, the European Union will inevitably expect changes that can fundamentally change the functions of the union. An important role in the process of such a transformation will be played by the intensified activation of Eurosceptics again. According to experts, the situation that has arisen around the spread of coronavirus in Europe has created, in particular, fertile ground for increasing the number of supporters of leaving the EU.

According to a survey by the Tecnè Institute and published by the media in April, 49% of Italian respondents want the country to leave the European Union. In November 2018, this figure was less by 20 percentage points. Moreover, as a new poll showed, 67% of Italians believe that EU membership adversely affects their country.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on Twitter at the end of March that Europe was facing a grave crisis, with the result that the future of the European Union was at stake. According to him, now the EU countries choose between a coordinated, solidary union and individualism.

According to Konstantin Voronov, the coronavirus pandemic “has intensified all the problems of European integration and mutual assistance”, and also aggravated the issue of distribution of financial resources within the association. All this negatively affects the authority of the EU leadership, the analyst believes.

“There is a high probability that the elections to be held in a number of EU countries will show the increased popularity of Euro-skeptics and right-wing forces, who have a whole bunch of evidence that the European project is far from being as successful as previously stated,” the expert said .

Konstantin Voronov also said that because of the impending economic crisis as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the EU is waiting for “a serious restructuring of economic relations and structures within national complexes”.

“Now, unification is only at the initial stage of the process of rethinking European processes within the Union,” the analyst explained.

Voronov predicts that "the functions of the European Union as a political union will weaken."

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“With this highest form of integration, when the association builds federal relations, the most questions and disagreements in the EU will arise, since each country has its own goals and understands big politics in its own way,” the expert stated.

According to Volodymyr Olenchenko, the political crisis within the European Union has "matured long ago" and the leadership "will have to restructure and organize the administration in a different way."

“Of course, the leading EU countries will surely take advantage of this crisis to realize their idea of ​​a two-speed Europe. This theory assumes that the union has countries of the first speed - its core, which has more powers within the Union, and countries of the second speed, which have not such a strong economic potential, and therefore less opportunities and preferences, ”the analyst concluded.