EU polity maintenance beyond crisis management

Abstract

The European Union experienced moments of existential crises since 2008 but has stepped from the brink each time. In 2012, the euro area was confronted with capital flight that could have made it collapse but a public commitment by the ECB President to do ‘whatever it takes to save the euro’ calmed down panicking markets. With Brexit, a member state has left the union for the first time, and even earlier a forced exit of Greece was on the cards; but the EU played hardball and seems to have no regrets. Such resilience has not been achieved in every instance: the EU’s refugee and asylum policy depends on the goodwill of an autocratic Turkish government and stands in glaring contradiction to the EU’s declared respect for human rights of displaced people. It is also unclear whether a lingering social crisis in many member states will lead to a revival of challenger parties upsetting the political establishment. The frequency and severity of crises raise the spectre of a deep political crisis that jeopardizes the political project of European integration. It has arguably solicited conscious efforts to maintain the polity as such: e.g. by asserting its borders vis-à-vis an exiting member state, by affirming its dispersed authority when confronting recalcitrant member states, and by committing unprecedented levels of funding for the recovery from a devastating pandemic that sends a signal of tangible solidarity. The contributions to this panel discuss how fruitful this perspective of polity maintenance on European integration and EU crisis management is in general and for specific policy conundrums facing the union.

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