The Covid-19 Crisis and European Macroeconomic Governance

This paper compares responses of the European Union (EU) to the Covid-19 crisis to earlier measures in the framework of the sovereign debt crisis. With a focus on monetary and fiscal regulations and answers in the realm of macroeconomic policy, the paper compares latest steps to those taken earlier. While there are many similarities, the current answers differ by further enhanced integration efforts characterized by processes of ‘failing forward’. We claim that while the pandemic creates immense challenges in terms of socio-economic effects across the EU, including rising levels of inequality within and between EU member states, it provides a ‘push’ towards further integration, as national political responses are seen as inadequate to address the magnitude of the challenges. The Covid-19 health crisis, while characterized by disjoint answers taken by EU member states and a resort to national-level measures, provides possibilities for the EU to take further integrative steps to combat the worst effects of the current crisis.