Press

John Springford at the Centre for European Reform thinks tracing technologies are a prerequisite for post-lockdown life but warns that without mass testing in member states, they may still prove ineffective: “To avoid further mass outbreaks, member states must first continue to build testing capacity and develop contact tracing systems. Only then can they slowly ease restrictions, in order to determine the effects of different interventions on infection rates. The EU can help to ensure that all member states have the tests and technology to be able to do so, exchange information between them about what works and what does not, and ensure that citizens’ privacy is respected.”

Un paper di John Springford, vice direttore del Centre for European Reform, i governi europei sperano che le app possano consentire di allentare i blocchi. Ma molto lavoro deve essere fatto a livello sia nazionale che europeo prima che le restrizioni possano essere alleviate.

"It seems surprising how quickly the German government is responding, but at the same time it's completely in line with what it has professed for years about maintaining fiscal prudence in good times in order to spend when it's needed," said Christian Odendahl, chief economist for the London-based Centre for European Reform.

“The EU’s initial belated and chaotic response and its failure to coordinate has weakened its reputation and provided fertile ground for euroskeptics,” said Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in Brussels. “This shock is of a more symmetric nature and can hit the north and south equally. So the question is whether this makes the north more open to risk-sharing.”

A paper by Christian Odendahl of the Centre for European Reform, Sebastian Grund of Harvard Law School and Lucas Guttenberg of the Jacques Delors Centre suggests the European Commission could raise 440 billion euros in 30-year bonds to fund the collective costs of fighting coronavirus. Crucially, however, the money would be granted to member states rather than lent. Responsibility for repaying the bonds would be divided between EU members according to the relative size of their economies in 2050, allowing the strong to support the weak.

"Those countries that did not respond may have been worried they were about to be hit themselves, but the optics were absolutely atrocious and made even worse by the fact at the same time, China and Russia were taking advantage and sending medical teams and medical treatments," says Luigi Scazzieri, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.