The covid-19 pandemic has been a severe test for the European Union as well as for its member-states: a test in which European cooperation has often been found wanting, in particular when it came to its vaccine programme. But this test has also led to a deepening of European solidarity, manifested most prominently in the European recovery fund.

What have been the stresses and strains caused by the pandemic on the EU and the member-states? Has the EU managed to turn the pandemic into an argument for European cooperation, or will it go down  as having hindered the ability of the EU nations to respond? Will the EU emerge stronger or weaker from this crisis, and will the pandemic have pulled us together or apart?

Speakers

• Isabel de la Mata Barrancos, Principal Advisor for Health and Crisis management, European Commission, DG Health and Food Safety
• Dr Iveta Nagyova, President of the European Public Health Association, EUPHA & Head of Department (Social and Behavioural Medicine), Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice, Slovakia
• Luuk van Middelaar, Professor of Foundations and Practice of the European Union and its Institutions, Leiden University & former adviser to Herman van Rompuy, first President of the European Council
• Chair: Dr Claudia Sternberg, Head of Academic Programming, UCL European Institute