EU och medlemsländerna under covid-19-krisen

Tillsammans eller i klorna på varandra?

Abstract

The EU and the Member States during the Covid-19-crisis – together or in the claws on each other?

In a very short time, the pandemic has shown Europe that a serious virus can drastically change human life and broader society. When the virus reached the borders of the EU Member States, most governments did what they had to do to fight the virus at home. But it took time before they realized their interdependence in other EU Member States, causing a state of “health nationalism”. Surely, states need to adjust their policies to the domestic conditions − especially during a state of emergency but this paper argues that this could be the time to consider whether public health decision-making should be elevated to the European level in the case of pandemics. The discussion is conducted in the light of the conclusion that the EU Member States have a broad mandate to decide on both the state of emergency, and on their legal exceptions to protect public health.