Hey @UnDiplomaticPod @WonkVJ, I was listening to your episode released on 8 April and I need to point something out.

There is an EU response to the pandemic - one that comprises an EU-level coordination, plus individual responses of its member-states: https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/health/coronavirus-response/overview-commissions-response_en">https://ec.europa.eu/info/live...
Health isn& #39;t an exclusive EU competence but Brussels can coordinate & support response efforts (as it& #39;s doing under #rescEU, ran by @eu_echo; it had a troubled start) as well as use the EU& #39;s tools to improve access to medical goods, support research etc: https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/health/coronavirus-response/overview-commissions-response_en">https://ec.europa.eu/info/live...
By late March the answer was still far from ideal, tho: efforts had kickstarted but there was still a lot to do, as @bruxelles2 (hardly an anti-EU voice) pointed out, namely on the amount of PPE sent to other EU states and repatriation of citizens abroad: https://www.bruxelles2.eu/2020/03/que-fait-leurope-aujourdhui-exactement/">https://www.bruxelles2.eu/2020/03/q...
Examples where China is perceived to be helping the most afflicted countries while the EU has stood by made headlines but there& #39;s a lot more to it: in the case of Serbia, EU assistance has simply been ignored by the head of state.
https://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_serbias_coronavirus_diplomacy_unmasked

https://www.ecfr.eu/article/c... href=" http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/coronavirus_support_wb.pdf">https://reliefweb.int/sites/rel...
In fact, earlier on, when the health crisis was mostly limited to China, the EU sent assistance to help the Chinese authorities: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_20_307">https://ec.europa.eu/commissio...

Of course, when the EU sent aid to China the CCP didn& #39;t want this to be publicized: https://twitter.com/isabelleory/status/1242547172366827524?s=20">https://twitter.com/isabelleo...
Overall the response has improved and it& #39;s now much better than 7 weeks ago. @UnDiplomaticPod is not a podcast dedicated to EU affairs and doesn& #39;t intend to discuss the EU in great detail but something is being done here, both at a coordination level & at a member states& #39; level.
The Eurogroup is formed by the finance ministers of the 19 €uro-area countries. They had heated talks on how to address economic fallout - mostly, about whether the response should come with strict conditions (à la 2010-11 and under @ESM_Press) or assume a more mutualized form.
This gets confusing when watching from the outside but the EU is not a & #39;classic& #39; international organization - it has powers of its own; then it has shared powers with its members; there are configurations where only *some* of its members take part, like the eurogroup; etc.
This is getting very lengthy here but my main comment on @UnDiplomaticPod& #39;s last episode is directed at the mention that the EU has done virtually nothing, close to saying that it has no purpose - there are tools in place, it took some wrangling but there is a response.
The EU is often accused of being too powerful AND of not being powerful enough - like I mentioned, it& #39;s not a classic organization but it& #39;s not an entirely supranational body either. Responses require compromises and sometimes, they& #39;re not 100% there, hence --> heated meetings.
Maybe opinions would be different if we saw this "unidentified political object" known as the EU more as a way of its 27 states pursuing their interests, rather than as an entirely idealist project - after all, most national leaders see it as a way to pursue their interests.
Finally, and just to (at last) bring this thread to an end, this long piece by @POLITICOEurope illustrates where some of the EU& #39;s problems in handling the response come from.

Keep up the podcasts flowing, peace! https://www.politico.eu/article/coronavirus-europe-failed-the-test/">https://www.politico.eu/article/c...
You can follow @Joao_Bx.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: