The European Union's responses to the COVID-19 crisis: How to fight a pandemic with the internal market
| Author | Tomi Tuominen,Mirva Salminen,Kirsi-Maria Halonen |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1023263X221130182 |
| Published date | 01 August 2022 |
| Date | 01 August 2022 |
TheEuropeanUnion’s
responsestotheCOVID-19
crisis:Howtofightapandemic
withtheinternalmarket
TomiTuominen*MirvaSalminen**
andKirsi-MariaHalonen*
Abstract
Inaliberalizedmarketeconomy,statestendtopurchasesuppliesrequiredforproducingpublicly
fundedservices,suchashealthcare,fromthemarketsinsteadofproducingthemthemselves.The
availabilityofcriticalsuppliesthusbecomesaquestionofsupply-sideavailabilityandsupplychain
management,andthereforetheiravailabilityisconceptualizedintermsofsecurityofsupply.The
EuropeanUnion’ssecurityofsupplypolicyhasfocusedonenergyandsecurityanddefence.
Securityhasprimarilybeensoughtfromthemarkets,whilethepurposeofEUlawhasbeento
establishthesemarketsandtoguaranteetheirfunctioning.DuringtheCOVID-19pandemic
theEuropeanUnionhassoughttosecuretheavailabilityofmedicalsuppliesbyrelyingonavariety
ofinternalmarketmeasures:freemovementlaw,Stateaidlaw,competitionlawandpublicpro-
curementlawhaveallbeenusedinthiseffort.Collectivelythesemeasureshaveaimedatsecuring
thefunctioningofthemarketsandthustheavailabilityofnecessarysupplies.Followingthecrisis,
theEuropeanUnionisnowadoptingabroaderpolicyperspectivetosecurityofsupply.However,
thisisstillcarriedoutmainlythroughinternalmarketcompetencesandbyrelyingonthemarkets
asthesourceofsecurity.
Keywords
Securityofsupply,internalmarket,crisis,COVID-19,competence,legalbase
*
UniversityofLapland,Rovaniemi,Finland
**
UiT–TheArcticUniversityofNorway
Correspondingauthor:
TomiTuominen,FacultyofLaw,UniversityofLapland,P.O.Box122,FI-96101Rovaniemi,Finland.
E-mail:tomi.tuominen@ulapland.fi
Article
MaastrichtJournalofEuropeanand
ComparativeLaw
2022,Vol.29(4)451–467
©TheAuthor(s)2022
Articlereuseguidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI:10.1177/1023263X221130182
maastrichtjournal.sagepub.com
1.Introduction
OncetheseverityoftheCOVID-19pandemicbecameapparenttoeveryone,statesrushedto
acquirenecessarymedicalsuppliessuchaspersonalprotectiveequipment(PPE),respiratorsand
vaccinesfromwhereverpossible.
1
Supplychainmanagement,procurementrulesandrelated
issuesinstantlyrosetothemainheadlinesofallmajornewsoutlets.
2
Althoughthetermassuch
wasnotusedthatoften,whatthestateswereworriedaboutwasthesecurityofsupplyof
medicalproductsthatarecriticalwhenfightingapandemic.Inaliberalizedmarketeconomy,sup-
pliesthatarenecessaryfortheproductionofpubliclyfundedservicesareusuallyacquiredthrough
themarketsinsteadofproducedbythestate.Thisgoesbothforservicesprovideddirectlybythe
stateandforservicesthatthestatehasoutsourcedtoprivatecompanies.Theavailabilityofcritical
suppliesthusbecomesaquestionofsupply-sideavailability(andsupplychainmanagement),and
thereforetheissueisconceptualizedintermsofsecurityofsupply.
3
Eventhoughhealthcareis
largelybasedonpublicfundingandhealthcareservicesareprovidedbypublicbodies,producing
suchservicesstillrequiresmedicalsupplies,whichthestateprocuresthroughthemarkets.Security
ofsupplyconcernsarethuscentralduringsuchacrisisastheCOVID-19pandemic.
TheCOVID-19pandemichasreceivedconsiderableattentioninbothpublicdebatesandaca-
demicdiscussions.Thisisforsureduetotheseverityofthecrisisandtheunprecedentednatureofthe
responsesthatstatesaroundtheworldhaveresortedtointheirattemptstomanagethecrisis.Thepreferable
waytotacklethepandemicandtheadequacyoftheactionsalreadytakenhavebeenstudiedextensively
overthepastthreeyears.MostoftheEuropeanlegalscholarshiponthepandemichasfocusedonsector
specificissuesandhastakenplaceinspecialistlegaljournalsdevotedto,forexample,theregulationof
health,
4
publicprocurement,
5
Stateaid
6
oreconomicassistancetotheMemberStates.
7
However,an
1.Seee.g.Reuters,‘Exclusive:EUStatesNeed10TimesMoreCoronavirusEquipment–InternalDocument’,25March
2020;EUobserver,‘EUFightingShortagesandFaultyMedicalSupplies’,2April2020.
2.Seee.g.FinancialTimes,‘SupplyChainsNeedSomeLoveDuringtheCoronavirusPandemic’,8April2020;
BloombergNews,‘BatteredandBruised,SupplyChainsShifttoRecover-and-SurviveMode’,26April2020.
3.Onthedefinitionofsecurityofsupply,seeC.Egenhoferetal.,‘Market-BasedOptionsforSecurityofEnergySupply’,
FondazioneEniEnricoMattei(2004),NotaDiLavoro117.2004,https://www.ceps.eu/download/publication/?id=
4911&pdf=1114.pdf.
4.Seee.g.A.Alemanno(ed.),TamingCOVID-19ByRegulation,specialissue,11EuropeanJournalofRiskRegulation
(2020),p.187.
5.Seee.g.A.Sanchez-Graells,‘ProcurementintheTimeofCOVID-19’,71NorthernIrelandLegalQuarterly(2020),
p.81;L.FarcaandD.Dragos,‘ResilienceinTimesOfPandemic:IsthePublicProcurementLegalFrameworkFit
forPurpose?’,TransylvanianReviewofAdministrativeSciences(2020),p.60;T.Kotsonis,‘EUProcurement
LegislationintheTimeofCOVID-19:FitforPurpose?’,19PublicProcurementLawReview(2020),p.199;A.La
Chimia,‘ProcuringforCOVID-19:HouseboundReflectionsonaProcurementEarthquake’,19PublicProcurement
LawReview(2020),p.161;G.L.Albano,‘HomoHominiLupus:OntheConsequencesofBuyers’Miscoordination
inEmergencyProcurementfortheCOVID-19CrisisinItaly’,19PublicProcurementLawReview(2020),p.213.
6.Seee.g.G.DeStefano,‘Covid-19andEUCompetitionLaw:BringtheInformalGuidanceOn’,11JournalofEuropean
CompetitionLaw&Practice(2020),p.121;C.Fumagalli,M.MottaandM.Peitz,‘WhichRoleforStateAidand
MergerControlDuringandAftertheCovidCrisis?’,11JournalofEuropeanCompetitionLaw&Practice(2020),
p.294;P.Nicolaides,‘ApplicationofArticle107(2)(b)TFEUtoCovid-19Measures:StateAidtoMakeGoodthe
DamageCausedbyanExceptionalOccurrence’,11JournalofEuropeanCompetitionLaw&Practice(2020),p.238.
7.Seee.g.D.Busch,‘IstheEuropeanUnionGoingtoHelpusOvercometheCOVID-19Crisis?’,15CapitalMarketsLaw
Journal(2020),p.347;T.Arnold,M.GulatiandU.Panizza,‘HowtoRestructureEuroAreaSovereignDebtintheEra
ofCovid-19’,15CapitalMarketsLawJournal(2020),p.322;B.deWitte,‘TheEuropeanUnion’sCOVID-19
RecoveryPlan:TheLegalEngineeringofanEconomicPolicyShift’,58CommonMarketLawReview(2021),p.635.
452MaastrichtJournalofEuropeanandComparativeLaw29(4)
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