Local democracy in 2020: Covid-19 impact

The aim of this study is to explore the governmental budgetary responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in Sweden. To fulfil this aim, the study focuses on the multi-level governance relationships between different national and local actors in Sweden.

This newsletter from DG Communication’s Public Opinion Monitoring Unit focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public opinion within the European Union and beyond. The current edition of the newsletter contains:
• A short analytical summary on main results and insights from across the EU, based on current surveys.
• A collection of recent multi-national surveys comparing public opinion from several EU and other countries on the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Current national surveys and polls on citizens’ attitudes towards the corona crisis, their governments’ and the EU’s response, including, where and when available, data on trust in public institutions.

The European External Action Service (EEAS) Special Report Update from 1 April 2020 identified many of the narratives and disinformation swirling around about COVID-19. Some of the recurring themes emphasised in this report include that the EU has completely failed to deal with the pandemic and is on the brink of collapse. The report also exposed narratives portraying the EU as ineffective, divided and cynical in its crisis response.

A new pan-European survey conducted by ECFR shows that, after the onset of the covid-19 crisis, there has been a rise in public support for unified EU action to tackle global threats.

A diplomatic bomb thrown by the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić last month has taken up most of the attention in the discussion about the soft power struggle in the Balkans. Vučić’s proclamation that the EU solidarity is an illusion and kissing Chinese flag upon receiving the first plane of medical assistance have found their way to global headlines, hinting at a possible reinvention of EU-Serbia relations. Now that the dust has settled a little, perception of the EU in the rest of the region during the pandemic can also be assessed – and the Union should not be satisfied.

As countries across the world struggle to deal with the impacts of Covid-19, Europe faces another problem that does not seem to go away – Populism. The word may have taken a backseat for the time being, but the issue looks set to gain more prominence yet again due to the ongoing pandemic.

Major crises can act as catalysts – either destabilising or strengthening the political regimes that oversee them, depending on how citizens view their government’s performance. This column analyses a cross-country survey in Western Europe during March and April, a period that saw many of these governments enforce lockdowns in response to COVID-19.

The coronavirus pandemic is prompting contrasting trends in European democracy. While the crisis is aggravating many stresses that afflict democracy in Europe, it is also propelling democratic efforts in a number of areas.