Why is the pandemic an EU problem? For Lucas Schramm, high levels of integration and a desire for European solidarity have brought the novel coronavirus crisis to the EU’s doorstep.

The pandemic has brought heightened attention to gender-based violence, creating an opportunity to spark a renewed sense of urgency and galvanise wider changes to protect the security of women and children.

On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Dr Jeffrey Miller reflects on the particularly heavy burden that the COVID-19 pandemic presents for deaf and hard of hearing individuals.

President-elect Joe Biden has plenty of diplomatic issues to tackle in his approaching tenure as the 46th President of the United States. While some tout the importance of immediate steps to signify America’s renewed embrace of “values and democracy”, Nicholas Noe suggests starting with a more pragmatic and inclusive approach: “vaccine diplomacy”.

COVID-19 has forced derogations from and limitations to rights at every level. However, there are some populations for which the pandemic has generated rights victories previously considered out of reach. EUI Professor of Public International Law Neha Jain puts the spotlight on one such vulnerable population––prisoners––to explore how COVID-19 has helped change the discourse on the rights of detainees to ignite prospects for prison reform.

The coronavirus pandemic hit when the world was still reeling from the Great Recession, delivering a serious blow to economies everywhere. Will European welfare states be able to absorb this new shock? Anton Hemerijck and Robin Huguenot-Noel urge welfare states to consider long-term objectives for greater resilience to short-term crises.

Why were the Dutch so reluctant to endorse a post-pandemic economic recovery package? Jean Monnet Fellow G. Matteo Vaccaro-Incisa takes a look at some of the underlying motivations driving Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s reticence.

Brought into high relief by the COVID-19 pandemic, unregulated commercial surrogacy generates risk and damage to families, children, and mothers. In this article, Law researcher Sylvie Armstrong argues that a self-sufficiency approach in Europe, where commercial surrogacy is widely banned, is the best strategy available for protecting the parties involved.

The French Senate recently walked back a state of emergency provision that shielded decision-makers from criminal responsibility related to their actions during the COVID-19 crisis. Law researcher Sophie Duroy analyses the provision, its rationale, and proposes an approach to high-risk decision-making that ensures legality while safeguarding effectiveness.

The extraordinary circumstances of COVID-19 put severe limits on movement in the EU, setting up a potential conflict between air carriers and ticketed passengers who could no longer depart. Will the Commission’s guidelines on the matter help or hurt consumers? Law researcher Marc Steiert takes a look.