The Coronavirus outbreak doesn’t stop EUIDEA project

Brussels – Led by Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and financed by the European Commission under the Horizon2020 program, EUIDEA – Integration and Differentiation for Effectiveness and Accountability – addresses differentiation and integration issues in order to find viable solutions to the current challenges that the EU is facing. A mission still valid, even in times of COVID-19.

The Consurtium members held a videoconference workshop in mid March (19 March) to keep working on the research and analysis activity. A remote working session brought together 15 institutional partners from different locations within and outside the European Union to take stock of the situation, discuss the state of play for the different work packages (WP), and shape the EUIDEA agenda for the months to come.

Eight out of twelve work packages have been the object of the extraordinary wokshop. It was about “Historical and philosophical foundations” (WP 1, coordinator: University of Groningen, the Netherlands), “Vision and theoretical conceptualization” (WP 2, coordinator: University of Geneva, Switzerland), “Narratives on European constitutionalism and identity” (WP 3, coordinator: Institute for European Politics, Germany), “Economic and Monetary Union and the single market” (WP 4, coordinator: Jacques Delors Institute, France), “Foreign Security and Defence Policy” (WP 5, coordinator: innish Institute of International Affairs, Finland), “The Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ), including migration” (WP 6, coordinator: Centre for International Information and Documentation in Barcelona, Spain), “Observatory on Brexit” (WP 7, coordinator: European Policy Centre, Belgium) and “National Preferences on EU” (WP 8, Coordinator: Institute for European Politics, Germany).

The special workshop replaced the working meeting originally scheduled for the same day in Skopje, then postponed due to Coronavirus related problems. Nevetherless the EUIDEA consurtium decided not to waste time and to engage in an in-depth debate, in order to deliver as foreseen and even beyond.

The real question mark is now whether and how Coronavirus can play a role in the EU differentiation. Post-Brexit negotiations, decision making process, State intervention into the economy, the single market and the Schengen area: are all these areas going to be hit by the virus? All the answers to these questions will come.

So, stay tuned on EUIDEA.