Chaos in northern Italy over vague coronavirus
lockdown orders
https://www.dw.com/en/chaos-in-northern-italy-over-vague-coronavirus-lockdown-orders/a-52685263
“The European debt crisis revealed the flaws in a bloc
that shares a currency but not a fiscal policy. The migration crisis of 2015
revealed that individual European countries want to protect their own borders
and control the number of immigrants arriving, in a zone built on the ideal of
visa-free travel and burden sharing. The coronavirus could pose an even greater
test for the European Union, which has free movement of people but no standard
health protocols across countries. Will the EU’s member states band together to
work with Italy, or will they cordon it off? Will richer northern-European
countries hoard medical equipment, or partner with poorer southern- and
eastern-European ones to slow the outbreak? Is Italy overreacting, or is the
rest of the continent underreacting?”