The beginning of the third millennium was the culmination of the efforts of European countries for nearly 50 years, as the transition from the stage of the European market to the European Union, and the issuance of its single currency "the euro", and the experiment remained praised and invited to the rest of the regional entities to benefit from the experience.
But crises come to test the experience of the European Union, and it was the first experience at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, when the global financial crisis afflicted European countries and accumulated debts on some of them, especially in Greece, which experienced a severe financial crisis that lasted for more than 5 years.
At that time, the expectations for the possibility of the European Union abandoning the economically weak countries that suffer from a debt crisis and a deficit in public budgets have gone away, but the European Union has violated these expectations and established a so-called “rescue fund”, whose capital amounted to nearly half a billion euros, to provide loans at Low interest, to help countries with high public debt.
In fact, many European countries benefited from the rescue fund, so that Greece, which was threatened with bankruptcy, was unable to pay its foreign debt obligations and called its financial crisis in 2018.
Corona threat
With the beginning of the spread of the Corona virus during the first quarter of 2020, European countries witnessed a state of panic, as infection rates in European countries were the largest among the countries of the world, in Italy, Spain and France, yet the European Union as a regional entity was not dealing with The event at the required or desired level.
This prompted many writers to expect the Corona crisis to be one of the reasons for the collapse of the European Union experience, especially in light of the behavior of some citizens in Italy who burned the European Union flag and removed it from some buildings, with the start of the flow of Chinese medical aid to Italy.
One of the most prominent findings of the Corona pandemic was the weakness of the health insurance system in the European Union, where health institutions were unable to face the crisis in a manner that preserves human wealth, while other countries such as China were able to control the crisis and overcome it from a medical point of view, and were even able to provide their assistance Of medical supplies for European countries.
And it helped some people believe in his expectations of the collapse of the European Union, the British determination to leave the union, and start arranging Britain's economic and financial conditions in light of a new reality, to create individual economic and financial relations with many countries.
Likewise, the analyzes that the post-Corona world is different from before it went to increase the possibility of the European Union disintegration, especially in light of raising many important issues at the global level, such as trade war, and the need for a new global economic and financial system.
European experience
Unlike many different regions of the world, the European case represents a distinct performance after the Second World War, as the efforts of European countries crystallized to reach solutions to problems, and they are not allowed to be a cause of division, so Europe was more coherent in the face of the challenges imposed by the economies of globalization, Since the beginning of the nineties until the beginning of the global financial crisis in 2008.
This experience was also evident in dealing with and standing up to the negative repercussions of the Corona pandemic, and the media image that dealt with the reactions of some citizens, and statements by officials of European Union member states, suggest that the experience of the Union is just around the corner to reach the stage of disintegration and collapse.
But during the past few days, the European Union went out to announce the adoption of its new budget in addition to 750 billion euros to form a rescue fund to help the countries affected by the Corona crisis, so that the step represents a case of management based on common interests, so the weak is not left to collapse among the countries of the union, and does not take One of the parties, grant and aid without gratification, but loans at low interest rates, or conditional grant and aid.
As published from the details of allocating 750 billion euros to combat the negative effects of Corona, the bulk of it will be conditional grants, about 500 billion euros, while allocating 250 billion euros in loans, and the fund’s plan focuses on caring for health care projects and supporting economic recovery.
It was not easy to reach this plan to create a rescue fund, as negotiations between the European Union countries on this plan have been going on since March 2020, and there has been strong opposition between France and Italy on the one hand, and Germany and Belgium on the other hand, on how to finance this box.
France and Italy’s proposals regarding the possibility of issuing joint bonds in the name of the European Union were rejected, and the idea of crowdfunding for the fund’s needs was approved, with each country bearing the responsibility for the funds it received, and here the responsibility in crisis management appears.
Where passion was spared, as happened in the financial crisis of Europe in 2010, yes there is a crisis, but its treatment must not be for the account of one party over the interests of another, so the money of every country that you pay as a share in the rescue fund is the taxpayer money, and each government is asked in front of its people about How to dispose of the tax funds, and thus whoever gets financing in the form of grants or loans provides his plan for the rescue and is responsible for achieving positive results, as well as fulfilling the payment of what he got.
It will not be the last
The Corona crisis will not be the last crisis facing the European Union as a regional entity, but the important thing is how to deal with crises and provide solutions that help the entity survive, but rather strengthen its role, so interests here are the forefront of emotions.
The financing package, in the European financial crisis in 2010, as well as in the Corona 2020 crisis, touched an urgent need to prevent the economies of countries struck by crises, and thus members feel that the European Union entity has already found common interests, not only for the benefit of adults, or for the depletion of the wealth of the young.
The most important thing in the matter of the survival of the European Union is the civilized dimension on the one hand, as Europe considers itself as a single civilized entity, and it faces real challenges that may affect the survival of its civilization, and therefore the existence of the European Union represents a civilized necessity.
In addition to the importance of an inclusive union that includes Europe in light of the two-decade-old conflict between America and China, which is expected to escalate during the coming period, and the aspirations of emerging countries in the global system will undoubtedly be an opponent of one of the major parties, and Europe cannot face this challenge And its countries are separate, but it is better to remain in one entity.
Europe has learned the lesson from its historical experiences prior to the Second World War, that the problems must be solved, and that the cost of solving them in a collective form is better than the individual confrontation for each country separately, and we can now imagine the European reaction to the rescue plan compared to its reaction in the beginning of a crisis Sk.