European Union

The continuous supply of essential goods and vital medical and protective equipment within the Single Market is key to addressing the COVID-19 crisis.

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

The continuous supply of essential goods and vital medical and protective equipment within the Single Market is key to addressing the COVID-19 crisis.

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

© MintArt / Shutterstock

The world is currently facing the fastest-spreading pandemic since the Spanish flu (in the aftermath of the First World War), prompting governments to take unprecedented decisions to contain this highly contagious coronavirus, which leads to COVID-19 infection. The measures taken include closing borders in some countries, encouraging telework as much as possible, and shutting schools, universities, restaurants and many other facilities, except for shops selling groceries, supermarkets and pharmacies. People are urged to stay at home and avoid physical contact with others. In a growing number of countries, confinement is being enforced.

This note offers links to recent commentaries and reports from international think tanks on the coronavirus and related issues. Earlier publications on the topic can be found in the previous item in the series, published on 11 March.

Coronavirus: Global response urgently needed
Chatham House, March 2020

How leaders can stop corona from undermining the EU
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, March 2020

Bold policies needed to counter the coronavirus recession
Centre for European Reform, March 2020

‘Whatever it takes’ must be EU member states’ Covid-19 pledge
Friends of Europe, March 2020

COVID-19 is a reminder that interconnectivity is unavoidable
Brookings Institution, March 2020

Trade policy and the fight against coronavirus
European Centre for International Political Economy, March 2020

Corona Crisis: Italy needs European solidarity – now
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, March 2020

Coronavirus: All citizens need an income support
Chatham House, March 2020

The economic policy response to COVID-19: What comes next?
Brookings Institution, March 2020

Tracking Coronavirus in countries with and without travel bans
Council on Foreign Relation, March 2020

Trump’s trade policy is hampering the US fight against COVID-19
Peterson Institute for International Economics, March 2020

The Coronavirus can make or break the Union
European Policy Centre, March 2020

Coronavirus has shattered many long-held myths about globalisation
Friends of Europe, March 2020

Europe braces for Coronavirus spread
Bertelsmann Stiftung, March 2020

Responding to the coronavirus outbreak
Clingendael, March 2020

An effective economic response to the Coronavirus in Europe
Bruegel, March 2020

The coronavirus recession deepens financial market turmoil
Atlantic Council, March 2020

Estimates of COVID-19’s fatality rate might change: And then change again
Rand Corporation, March 2020

What you need to know about the Coronavirus outbreak
Council on Foreign Relation, March 2020

Addressing the coronavirus ‘infodemic’
Atlantic Council, March 2020

Designing an effective US policy response to Coronavirus
Peterson Institute for International Economics, March 2020

What the Coronavirus emergency means for the US-Iran conflict
Atlantic Council, March 2020

International cooperation for the Coronavirus combat: Results, lessons, and way ahead
Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, March 2020

Coronavirus: The view from Italy, China, Singapore, India, and the UK
Council on Foreign Relation, March 2020

Responding to the coronavirus outbreak
Clingendael, March 2020

Global macroeconomics of coronavirus
Brookings Institution, March 2020

Covid-19 & OPEC+ collapse: Preliminary assessment of implications for energy markets, policies and geopolitical balances
Institut français des relations internationales, March 2020

The Coronavirus outbreak could disrupt the U.S. drug supply
Council on Foreign Relations, March 2020

Coronavirus, campaigns, and connectivity
Brookings Institution, March 2020

Covid-19 & OPEC+ collapse: Preliminary assessment of implications for energy markets, policies and geopolitical balances
Institut français des relations internationales, March 2020

The World Health Organization
Council on Foreign Relation, March 2020

Le coronavirus, une géopolitique des peurs
Institut Montaigne, March 2020

COVID-19 is a reminder that interconnectivity is unavoidable
Brookings Institution, March 2020

How Europe should manage the Coronavirus-induced crisis
Centre for European Policy Studies, March 2020

Uncharted territory: Italy’s response to the coronavirus
European Council on Foreign Relations, March 2020

Three macroeconomic issues and Covid-19
Bruegel, March 2020

Only the coronavirus can convince Trump of the virtues of international cooperation
Bruegel, March 2020

An effective economic response to the Coronavirus in Europe
Bruegel, March 2020

What if the rest of Europe follows Italy’s coronavirus fate?
Bruegel, March 2020

Three macroeconomic issues and Covid-19
Bruegel, March 2020

Ill will: Populism and the coronavirus
European Council on Foreign Relation, March 2020

Coronavirus forces colleges online: Will learning ever be the same?
Rand Corporation, March 2020

Coronavirus and the labor market
Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, March 2020

Coronavirus outbreak intensifies: Q&A with RAND experts
Rand Corporation, March 2020

The consequences of the Coronavirus epidemic for the EU economy
Polish Institute for International Affairs, March 2020

Will China learn from the COVID-19 epidemic?
East Asia Forum, March 2020

Coronavirus, telemedicine, and dustbusters
Rand Corporation, March 2020

How Europe should manage the Coronavirus-induced crisis
Centre for European Policy Studies, March 2020

Pour une Europe de la santé. Chronique d’une épidémie, crise sanitaire, perturbant fortement l’économie
Fondation Robert Schuman, March 2020

Read this briefing on ‘Coronavirus: The latest‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

In Lombardy, the province which includes Italy's economic capital Milan, 319 people coronavirus patients have died in a single day, two sources with access to the data have told Reuters.They also said the number of new cases in the region had increased by almost 1,500, with the total tally of confirmed cases rising above 17,700.

China will provide two million surgical masks, 200,000 other masks and 50,000 testing kits to help the EU tackle the coronavirus, EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen said. "China has not forgotten that in January, when China was the centre of the outbreak, the EU helped. We donated more than 50 tonnes of protective equipment," she said, adding that the EU, being at the pandemic's centre today, needs equipment.

The European Commission clarified on Wednesday (18 March) how the bloc’s passenger rights codex should work, in an attempt to alleviate the concerns of thousands of travellers and companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

In the Franco-German journalistic bubble, one never tires of highlighting the differences in leadership between Paris and Berlin. The COVID-19 crisis management is one of the best examples but things are about to change in a few hours.

The spread of the coronavirus is becoming a stress test for Austria's internet infrastructure, as internet traffic exploded virtually overnight. To protect the country's capacities, the regulatory authority RTR has given the green light for certain online services, like video streaming, to be throttled.

Eurovision song contest organisers announced on Wednesday (18 March) that this year's edition - scheduled for May in the Dutch city of Rotterdam - is cancelled because of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The annual contest has run interrupted since its debut in 1956.

The vice-president of the European People's Party (EPP), Siegfried Muresan MEP, has urged the EU Commission to abolish all tariffs for protective and medical supplies, in a letter to president Ursula von der Leyen. "Abolishing tariffs is a concrete step the EU can take to help the citizens. The European Commission must not hesitate in taking any action possible to fight COVID-19," the letter reads.

The European Union sealed off its borders Wednesday (18 March) to try to put the brakes on the ferocious spread of the coronavirus pandemic, as the number of deaths on the continent soared past the toll in Asia.

Russian media have deployed a "significant disinformation campaign" against the West to worsen the impact of the coronavirus, generate panic and sow distrust, according to a European Union document seen by Reuters.

An international community of hackers have embarked on a project to find innovative solutions to the everyday challenges brought on by the Coronavirus outbreak.

Spanish farmers are concerned about the coronavirus crisis, as the Iberian country is the second most affected EU member by the epidemics. Not only are they concerned by health issues, but they fear a huge impact on their already weakened...

Britain's biggest supermarkets, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda, imposed limits on purchases of pasta, toilet roll and long life milk on Wednesday (18 March) after alarmed shoppers stripped shelves bare to hoard for possible isolation in the coronavirus outbreak.

A well-known Bulgarian investigative journalist was assaulted by masked men late Tuesday outside his home on a central Sofia boulevard, sparking angry reactions from journalist organisations.

The European Union runs on meetings -- endless gatherings to take decisions and try to build consensus among 27 diverse member states.

The EU Commission says that approximately 80,000 EU citizens are outside the bloc and want to return to Europe, but the number could increase. "The number we are working with now, an aggregated number from member states, is approximately, 80,000 people outside the EU," a commission spokesman said. EU citizens wishing to return to Europe need to contact their national embassies or if there is none, another EU embassy.

The Trump administration enacted its planned duty rate increase for aircraft imported from the EU on Wednesday (18 March), amid the continuing spread of COVID-19 and fears of a subsequent recession. These measures will increase the rate from 10 to 15%, particularly impacting Airbus.

The Croatian Chamber of Agriculture (HPC) adopted a proposal for measures to help preserve jobs and liquidity during the coronavirus pandemics, after appeals to the Ministry of Agriculture. Proposals include obliging retail chains to buy domestic food products, prohibiting the...