Failing forward? : crises and patterns of European integration

Abstract

A succession of major crises has tested the resilience of the European Union (EU), leading many observers to predict its imminent demise. The Eurozone crisis, the refugee crisis, Brexit, and rule-of-law backsliding have presented distinct threats to European integration. Yet, while these crises have battered the Union, they have also prompted reforms that have strengthened its authority in significant respects. The coronavirus pandemic is only the latest in a series of such challenges. Time and again during the pandemic, the European Union appeared to fumble, only to pull itself together to forge a common response; time and again, that European response has turned out to be more effective than critics might have imagined and yet less than proponents might have wished. Beneath the tempestuous surface, however, the EU’s authority continues to strengthen (Jones, 2020).