image from https://eeas.europa.eu/, reuse pursuant to Commission Decision 2011/833/EU

The European Union celebrates Europe Day, tomorrow, May 9, to commemorate the 1950 Schuman Declaration proposing consolidated European coal and steel industries, binding the member nations so closely together that renewed war would be unthinkable. The Schuman Declaration is considered to be the genesis of what is now the European Union of 27 Member States (down from 28, with the Brexit of the United Kingdocandies_flags_deskm earlier this year) and a combined population of around a half billion people.

We often celebrate Europe Day here at the Law Library with a colorful bowl of European candies at the Reference Desk, and we look forward to returning to that tradition in 2021.

This year, however, let’s take a quick glimpse at our transatlantic partner’s response to the novel coronoavirus crisis.

The Common EU Response to Covid 19  highlights some of the efforts by the EU and its member states in battling the novel coronavirus:

  • a coordinated temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the EU
  • joint procurement of medical equipment by member states
  • support for research for treatments and vaccines in the form of funding and shared platforms
  • economy boosts from the European Central Bank’s €750 billion pandemic emergency program and the European Investment Bank’s €40 billion emergency support package for small and medium-sized businesses
  • support between member states:
    • France has donated 1 million masks to Italy
    • Germany has delivered 7 tons of medical equipment to Italy, including ventilators and anesthesia masks
    • the Czech Republic has delivered 10,000 protective suits and 3D-printed respirators to Italy
    • Austria, Germany and Luxembourg have taken in patients from Italy and France
    • Poland, Romania and Germany have sent teams of doctors to Italy’s hospitals

Not all is rosy regarding the EU’s response to the pandemic, however, and its very structure can make mobilizing in such a crisis less than nimble. Many question what they see as a slow response, opening the door to influence by China and Russia in Member States. See Covid 19 and a Splintered European Union.  In addition, the head of the EU’s top science panel quit over the response to the virus in early April, and the President of the European Commission has offered a heartfelt apology to Italy for letting it down at the start of the coronavirus crisis.

Unsurprisingly, the EU has moved its Europe Day celebrations online this year. See the Europe Day 2020: Together We Are Europe page for links to a number of celebratory virtual concerts, art exhibits, panel discussions, a “Europe in the World quiz,” and more.

The School of Law has a long history of programs and courses focusing on the European Union, and the Law Library supports these programs with access to a rich collection of online and print resources. The library has served as a depository for official EU eudepositorylogodocuments since the 1980s, with a special focus on EU legal documentation. See our Guide to EU Documents in the Law Library and learn more about the EU on its official site Europa as well as the transatlantic partnership on the site of the Delegation of the European Union to the United States.

Please contact Foreign and International Law Librarian Anne Burnett  for assistance with using our EU depository material and the supplementary material we acquire to support your EU legal research.