EU coronavirus deal sets new standard for international solidarity

Whilst the majority of the collectively borrowed money will still be given to the neediest nations as grants, Rutte and his colleagues did manage to warrant that any country wishing to use the funds submit a plan for how they wish to spend it for other EU states to review.

Given that economists have predicted the windfall from COVID-19 will be a recession worse than WWII, it’s promising to see the EU band together in solidarity. With their spending power combined, they’ve knit together a landing pad that will catch even the weakest of their economies, ensuring the world’s strongest economic bloc doesn’t have failed states in its retinue.

It’s a great leap forward in geopolitics – such a merging of finances seems to shun the backslide into nationalism recently performed in Europe in a firm show of internationalism.

However, like all things worth having it comes at a cost.

To reach a consensus, the EU Commission had to find areas where its existing budget could be slashed. Of course, this burden landed on the climate. An ambitious project that was designed to prepare Europe for a carbon neutral future by 2030 was slashed by one-third.

Moreover, a proposed health fund evaporated entirely (somewhat ironically given the impetus behind the deal in the first place).

Concessions made to Hungary and Poland to shore up their support of the deal were perhaps the most worrying. These two nations have recently come under fire for breaching EU rule of law, garnering penalties from the union.

Both Hungary and Poland are governed by right-wing, autocratic rulers and are fast moving towards fascism. Viktor Orban of Hungary and the recently elected Mareusz Morawiecki of Poland are vehemently against LGBT+ rights, amongst other conservative values that have drawn the criticism of the international community and cast doubt on the position of the two nations in the EU.

Knowing they were in a position of power at this summit, Hungary and Poland held up the deal, which needed unanimous support, until certain sanctions placed on them by the Union were relaxed.

Not only was their money from Brussels (where the EU is based) protected and increased, despite regular questions about the use of those funds for fascist projects, but Merkel promised to help Hungary conclude bloc disciplinary measures imposed against it for violating rule of law.

Daniel Kelemen, a scholar of Europe at Rutgers University, stated that the agreement ‘looks like a disaster for the rule of law… Merkel and Macron were determined to reach a deal demonstrating the EU’s ability to respond to the crisis, and they proved willing to keep EU funds flowing to autocratic governments in order to close the deal.’

Let’s hope that the fallout from this decision won’t come to overshadow the positive move towards cooperation the deal holistically shows.

The package will now to the European Parliament, where it is expected to be ratified.