ricearch 2020: a sinister virus seed itself within the globe Thousands of European continents are thrown into life and death battles. Most European countries protect their borders; millions of families lock their front doors. The hellish scenes flashed by, intensifying the fear of infection. In Europe, a disaster is unfolding, but there is no joint response.
The loudest call came from Italy, which was hit by the virus very early. Ask for help No one answered, and a severe rebuke followed. The EU’s slow response: The fact that Brussels’ institutions lack the “capacity” or formal authority to act in the field of public health has not impressed anyone. Soon thereafter, when the economic depression was imminent, doom predictors began to predict the end of the European Union.
Then the union suddenly began to show extraordinary vitality and resilience. The pandemic has caused all kinds of misfortunes, mistrust, and fierce conflicts, but it has also mobilized unforeseen forces and led to huge political changes. In the summer of 2020, the President and Prime Minister of the European Union made two far-reaching decisions: The European Union will focus on purchasing vaccines and establish a large-scale Coronavirus Rehabilitation Fund. There is no more discussion about “ability”. The EU has reshaped itself. How can this be?
During the Covid-19 disaster, compared with previous crises, political decision-making follow The public demands action. All citizens feel that their bodies are threatened. This disease is not anyone’s fault. This crisis is so overwhelming-strange blockades, large-scale layoffs, China and the United States in geomedicine “divide and conquer”-“Europe” has to do something to respond. The desperation of the pandemic forced the unions to adopt a form that they did not have before.
Day after day, European society counts and blesses the sick and the dead, listens to the TV announcements of the monarch, president or prime minister, Singing on the balcony And applauded the medical staff at night.These are moments of intense experience for the country Attribution.
At the same time, neighboring states are closer than ever in terms of suffering, lockdown rules, intensive care policies, and mortality. Leaving aside the empathy of epidemics for the time being; observing other countries is also useful at home. The media compared their government with other governments. Why is the test in Austria more positive than in France? Why does Britain have more deaths than Greece?
But in the EU, because of its single market, currency, and shared borders, this is more than just comparison. The decision next door directly affects people’s lives. What if Germany injects billions of dollars into its economy and Italy cannot? What if Sweden adopts a relaxed attitude towards Covid and keeps its borders open? What if Hungary accepts the Russian vaccine? The public in some countries quickly said to their neighbors: This decision of yours is also our business. On the contrary, some national leaders have reached out to the wider European public. This interaction is new.
In contrast, the financial turmoil after 2008 subsided from top to bottom. Because of the concerns of central bankers and experts, governments have to persuade reluctant parliaments to make major decisions to rescue the banking system and currencies. Seeing all eyes, there is nothing to ask for. The economic freedom introduced by the Brussels mechanism since 1957 was also granted from the upper level as a favor, rather than a bottom-up requirement. However, for the first time in a pandemic, the public has taken the first place.
Acknowledge the vibrancy of the situation and step up action for the public-these are the responses we ask of political leaders.So condemned Early Brussels defenseWhen history knocks on the door, lack of formal power is no excuse. It is important to show the ability to participate in “event politics” in the situation at hand, which means identifying and avoiding shocks that affect all citizens, improvising and persuading them in the present; in turn, predicting events and increasing the resilience of the system. Such cases do not require legal capacity, but require the acceptance of personal and political responsibility.
Few leaders are more acutely aware of this than Angela Merkel. This pandemic was the last European crisis in her 16 years as Chancellor of Germany, and her performance was a master. By Easter 2020, she can feel how the fault line has hardened, and how the political struggle for unity between North and South Europe has erupted. She reads daily reports on how Covid-19 economically separates the center of the Eurozone from the surrounding Mediterranean area (a risk for German exporters). Therefore, after careful consideration, she decided to skydive on May 18, 2020.On behalf of the Federal Republic, she assumed responsibility for a 500 billion euro EU Coronavirus Recovery Fund, which will be allocated In the form of a grant Not a loan. What has been considered taboo during the dangerous Eurozone crisis is suddenly possible.
Merkel has shown the sensitivity of seismologists to undercurrents and aftershocks in the public domain. This unique ordeal may produce ups and downs and slips, as well as sudden emotional outbursts. “Our country is dying,” The leaders of Rome and Madrid Tell her-so pandemic aid cannot be conditional; that would be shameful. Nor can we ignore the fact that the Italian public’s trust in trade unions has plummeted, and that two-thirds of Italians leave has become a choice.
The transformation of the public sphere is purely political. The result is not just the sum of objective forces (such as a country’s trade balance, arsenal, or technological capabilities). In fact, the most important thing is that they are also questions about humor and emotion, gratitude and resentment, memory and expectation, words and stories, expressed in an unstable balance and a constantly changing majority. However, there is no reason to believe that public sentiment is fickle. It can be read, felt and influenced. In addition, as clearly demonstrated during the pandemic, public opinion can shelve or crush many so-called objective realities.
In March 2020, the Dutch Minister of Finance Volk Hokstra An insensitive proposal was made that the European Commission should investigate the lack of financial buffers in Italy and Spain. This was a rude fist intended to win applause from the local audience in the Netherlands, but it drew boos and boos from all over Europe. Hokstra had to sneak away because he misjudged the nature, scale and mood of the European audience. .
Other actors are actively looking for a wider range of European galleries. Southern Europe has recovered an old wish from the euro crisis: calling for the issuance of joint debt. It did so classicly in a letter from nine government leaders to Charles Michel, President of the European Council, on March 25. More effectively, a few days later, local politicians in Italy purchased a full-page ad on the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, calling on the German public to support the “new crown bond.”
Sometimes it is claimed that because we do not all speak the same language, there is no public space in Europe. That’s nonsense. Applause and boos are universally understood. The public that politicians deal with is not just voters who submit verdicts every few years.
During the pandemic, the European public discovered its role. Obviously, our life and health are a public matter. We need politicians who can protect us, save lives, and show the way for the future. This inflated emergency call overwhelmed every Brussels initiative as the usual whistle for unwelcome interference in state affairs.
European public utilities have transformed themselves from invisible tasks into political decisions.In a moment of extreme vulnerability, a fierce war of words made European Union Defend what is most cherished by the people and give it new political power.
