ABSTRACT
Crises, the history of the EU shows, have frequently been a driving force of the European integration. Over the last years, a sequence of major crises has led some authors to consider that the EU currently exists in a sort of perennial state of crisis, which might have changed not only the way the EU functions, but its very nature. The current COVID-19 pandemic is yet another crisis that seems to confirm this trend. In this chapter, we build on the existing literature to review the crisis-reform thesis and put forward a theoretical rationale to assess the type of change resulting from crises. We then attempt a profile of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis by comparing it with the Eurozone and the migration crises. Despite several similarities, we believe that the pandemic’s distinctive feature is its symmetry. At least from a theoretical standpoint, we claim, this symmetric character should enhance the ground for cooperation at the European level, which is the central argument tested over the book.
