Online ISSN 2286-0266
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Adrian-Ioan DAMOC
Academia de Studii Economice din Bucureşti
Roberta GALAV
Academia de Studii Economice din Bucureşti
Over the last few months, the entire world has been heavily struck by the current sanitary and economic crisis. Although the extent of the impact has been uneven, it has been unanimously strong with significant societal and political repercussions. The same was the case for the European integration project, which has been met with serious challenges, the most pressing of which have been: citizen’s concern; problem-solving competencies; overall attitude towards the EU; the new model of integration; economic and social cohesion, solidarity and subsidiarity. Early on during the pandemic, we’ve witnessed a radical shift in economic behaviour at both an individual and national level, with citizens engaging in panic buying and hoarding while governments tried with varying degrees of success to control the spread of the virus while limiting economic damage. The main containment measure employed was typically a nation-wide lockdown, sparking a harsh negative economic effect with further political and social backlash, which lessened somewhat in mid-2020 when lockdown measures were relaxed. However, a new wave began in September 2020, further increasing civil unrest, riots and political instability. The management of the crisis, coupled with the latter’s nefarious psychological and sociological effects, have also sparked protests in several states of the European Union, further underlying potential societal risks especially as the member states’ initial responses were met with heavy criticisms for their disconcertedness. The present paper aims to investigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic in the European Union, the main drivers of the extent of economic upheaval and their significance for the Union’s governance and long-term integrity.

ŒCONOMICA no. 3-4/2020
Keywords: coronavirus, behavioural economics, common identity, challenge, EU economic governance
JEL: F50, F51, F53, F59
Analysis of Some of the Threats to the European Integration Project in the Wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic