Drifting towards Anarchy or a New Beginning? The Coronavirus vis-à-vis Political Changes in the European Union

The article deals with the issue of the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on political changes in the EU from a neo-institutional perspective. The pandemic has created qualitatively new challenges for the European Union after a “decade of crises.” Due to the dramatic and destructive nature of COVID-19, it is becoming a catalyst for unprecedented systemic changes in the Member States and EU institutions. The impact of the coronavirus on conflicts and divisions in the EU is analysed using the category of Europeanization in selected key dimensions: political unification within the EU, institutional changes at the EU level, the impact of the EU institutions on the Member States, the territorial scope of the EU and the spread of EU institutions beyond Europe. Selected consequences of the pandemic affecting the future of European integration are discussed in terms of different variants of disintegration or reintegration of the EU and the role and place of Central and Eastern European countries in these changes.