Conclusion: The European Union Between Resistance, Resilience, and Reinvention

ABSTRACT

If we look at how far the Union has come since the 2019 European elections, we cannot but underline its resistance, resilience, and ability to reinvent itself. The authors of the 22 chapters gathered in this volume have written contributions on a great variety of topics and case studies but have many shared analyses and conclusions. The sequence of events under study seems to be quite chaotic, but there are common trends and a limited number of logics at play. Building on the chapters gathered in this volume, one can draw four main lessons from the recent developments of European integration. 1. The 2019 elections strongly impacted the internal dynamics of the EP, the composition of the Commission, interinstitutional relations, and the overall direction of the EU’s actions—especially with the Green Deal. 2. The Covid-19 crisis has led to important transformations at the institutional level it has been a booster for executive institutions but has also fostered change in the EP and allowed it to remain on the map. 3. At the policy level, the crisis has led the EU to focus on public health and has made possible an ambitious recovery plan. 4. These evolutions are not unique, unpredictable, or the result of a given context they follow trends that reach in the past and are quite stable over time, even if they are not easy to read or understand. 2019 was a turning point, but there is more to come the 2024 elections will be just as important, in several respects. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.