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How will the coronavirus affect the European Union?
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The Schengen Zone shut down shows solidarity

The joint decision by EU leaders to close borders to the Schengen Zone suggests the bloc will come out of the virus with stronger political alliances.
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As the coronavirus started spreading around the globe, the EU and its member states started to be severely touched by the pandemic around March and started national lockdowns that lasted well over two months in most countries. In an attempt to stop the propagation of the virus, international travel has been limited by many countries around the world by imposing travel bans.

The Argument

The common response of the EU with regards to closing the Schengen Zone for international travel will strengthen the inner political alliances between member states. This action shows how well European cooperation can be put to practice in a unified crisis response. In sight of the propagation of COVID-19, the European Commission recommended to its member states to put a halt on entry to the EU for non-EU/Schengen nationals in mid-March. Following this, all member states progressively transposed this recommendation into their national systems. Third-party nationals couldn’t enter the EU at least until mid-June. Now, several countries have been cleared for entry but most international travel into the Schengen zone is still forbidden. After the COVID-19 crisis, the European political alliances will be stronger as they have been tested in a common response to securing border security during the pandemic. The implementation of shared policy in this field will strengthen political cooperation in the future.

Counter arguments

1) The closure of the Schengen zone threatens the stability of political alliances with third party states as trade and exchange has been put to a stop. 2) Political alliances amongst EU states will not better themselves due to the closure of the Schengen borders. It is a passive policy that is effective in reducing the risk of propagation of the virus but does not have a constructive character that would possibly increase the political alliances between member states.


European Integration relies on common policies to strengthen political alliances.


[P1] Commonly enforced policies will strengthen political alliances [P2] Shared efforts will strengthen the relationship between the acting partners.

Rejecting the premises

[P1] Commonly enforced policies will not necessarily strengthen political alliances for other policy fields. [P2] Shared efforts will not necessarily strengthen the relationship between the acting partners.


This page was last edited on Friday, 3 Jul 2020 at 12:41 UTC

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