The Covid-19 pandemic and Europe

This papers looks into the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the European Union. The current crisis found European economies in very different situations regarding their economic fundamentals and fiscal capacities to support their economies. Thus, the need for a strong EU level policy response emerged. Europe has learned its lessons from the previous crisis and acted decisively and in a coordinated fashion. The paper discusses these policy responses and some of the longer-term challenges of the current crisis.