TW
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Some of the countries which have been worse hit by the coronavirus are members of the European Union. But there has been no joint European Union action against the virus; infact member states have acted alone taking measures in the national interest.

You would have thought that the European Union would have produced a common strategy for all states. If it did, no-one was listening. In the end most countries adopted the same measures; lockdown, non-essential businesses closed etc, but the EU was not even consulted. The Schengen Treaty on border free travel was quickly abandoned as countries closed their borders. The European Union does appear to have a role in the post-Coronavirus aid package but there has been little or no agreement between member states.

It is a rather odd situation, as Britain prepared to leave the European Union it appeared that EU states were becoming closer. At the moment I don't think they could be further apart. Now, obviously they will be a return to normality once the coronavirus crisis has eased but the future of the EU could ve in doubt. The biggest crisis in recent European history and the EU is on the sidelines.

Also, Brexit will soon be back on the agenda and no-one can say that the European Union is in good shape. If the EU wants a role then it should start planning how it is going to deal with the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis and help get member states back on their feet.