Most Americans’ direct experience with the European Union is probably limited to the colorful Euro bills--featuring pictures of Roman arches and statues and such--that we use to buy stuff when touring Athens, or Paris, or Berlin, saving us from having to change money into a new national currency every time we switch cities.

But the European Union is so much more than the Euro: it’s a supranational institution of 27 different countries, and within that huge group it has a major say in everything from agricultural subsidies to data privacy to national debt.

And if the EU were a country, it would have the world’s largest economy and third-largest population, even now that the United Kingdom has brexited.

This week on the Elucidators, we’re going to discuss a historic step taken by the EU’s member states to try to rescue some of its financially weaker members from pandemic-related economic catastrophe. Will it bring the EU closer towards a United States of Europe, or are we maybe watching the beginning of the end for the EU? We have thoughts.

Further Reading:

1. The EU's 500 billion euro coronavirus bailout plan could be a big step towards a federal Europe
2. The European Union 'bailout' might end up being an eject button
3. The covid-19 pandemic puts pressure on the EU
4. The EU’s €750bn covid-19 plan is historic—but not quite Hamiltonian

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Episode Cover Photo by Tabrez Syed on Unsplash