COVID-19 is an opportunity for Europe

The COVID-19 pandemic thus represents an opportunity for the EU to create a powerful crisis-management mechanism, which pools member states’ resources and channels them toward a coordinated fiscal policy. The idea of such an “insurance fund” is not new: several economists championed the idea after the last crisis, when discussion of governance reform was in full swing.

The EU has tended to make the most progress in bad times. And, as the millions of people currently on lockdown in Italy can attest, the COVID-19 outbreak is a very bad time. Now is the moment for the EU to take swift coordinated action and capitalize on the momentum to build the institutions it needs to facilitate even more effective action next time.