The Coronavirus Outbreak Is a Critical Test for the European Union. So Far, It ’s Failing

When the clapping started, it was impossible not to feel moved. At 8 p.m. on March 17, people across the Netherlands leaned out of windows and congregated on doorstops to make a show of support for medical workers battling the coronavirus. First it was just a few claps, before the sound spread down my street in the Hague, working up to a crescendo of whistles and whoops. Fireworks sounded in the distance. A neighbor I had never spoken to waved from across the street. The warmth and goodwill was the epitome of what it means to be part of a community—a scene also playing out in Italy, Spain and France as stricken neighborhoods come together. But these spontaneous acts of solidarity stand in stark contrast to what is happening between European Union nations. The epicenter of the coronavirus moved from China to Europe in the first half of March, and governments turned on one another. The pillars that were meant to hold up the E.U.—the free movement of goods and people—crumpled, as borders went back up and panicked governments stockpiled medical supplies with little regard for their neighbors. When E.U. Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced on March 17 that the bloc would shut its external borders for 30 days, it felt as if the E.U. was playing catch-up with the many unilateral closures that governments had already enforced. It didn’t seem to be a coming together of like minds. When the E.U. is not in crisis mode, its leaders like to talk up its ...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 feature Londontime Source Type: news