Another Europe After the Pandemic? Reflections on Solidarity and the Nature of Private Rights

Faced with the devastating effects brought by the Coronavirus most agree that the world that will emerge once the epidemic has run its course will not be the same as before. There is little consensus however when it comes to deciding what that world should look like after the return to normality. The widely shared hope that the new normality will be considerably different and more humane than the old one is perhaps hardly surprising given the situation prior to the outbreak. While a rapid return to normality is desirable, that cannot mean a return to the “old normal”, based on the self-sufficiency of individuals and states, for instance through the inviolable safeguards guaranteed by the ownership of patents contrasted with the right to healthcare. Pandemics must be tackled through cooperation policies. It is therefore necessary to rethink the model of capitalism. The role of Europe in this context is essential in a world in which aggressive conceptions of national sovereignty are re-emerging. Emergencies such as the coronavirus pandemic cannot be resolved by favouring authoritarian tendencies. Instead, it is necessary for Europe to take its destiny in its own hands by becoming again the continent of rights.