OBSERVARE
Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa
e-ISSN: 1647-7251
Vol. 12, Nº. 2 (November 2021-April 2022)
160
THE EUROPEAN UNION'S RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE FUND, IN THE CONTEXT
OF THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION PROJECT AND ITS FUTURE PROSPECTS
FILIPE GUERRA
filipe.guerra@ua.pt
Jurist. Master's student in the course of Public Administration and Management and of PhD in
Public Policies, in the Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences of the University of
Aveiro (Portugal). Post-Graduate in Labour Law by the Institute of Labour and Company Law of
the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra and also holds a degree in Law from the Lusíada
University of Porto.
Abstract
Throughout its history, the process of European integration has been shaped by successive
stages of transfer of competences and powers from the Member States to the European Union
and its institutions. At the same time, and with progressively shorter latency periods, several
moments of crisis in the integration process were recorded. Of these crises, the financial crisis
that began in 2008 was of particular importance, demonstrating the difficulties in reaching
consensus and the fragmentation of interests within the European integration process.
This article aims to make a historical revisitation of several crisis moments in the European
integration process, with special attention to the past sovereign debt and Eurozone crises.
From this exposition, an argument is made about the susceptibility of fragmentation of
interests within the European Union, what are the causes and consequences of this
fragmentation and how this was reproduced throughout 2020 in the construction of the
Recovery and Resilience Fund, launched by the European Union in response to the crisis
triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Additionally, a diverse set of perspectives on the
Resilience and Recovery Fund and its relevance in the framework of the continuity of the
European integration process is presented.
Finally, we conclude that the European integration process is once again marked by the
strengthening of its political agenda and by recent signs of adaptation of the European Union
institutions to the management of constant crisis cycles, allowing the integration process to
continue.
Keywords
European Union, Resilience and Recovery Fund, Integration, Crisis, COVID-19.
How to cite this article
Guerra, Filipe (2021). The European Union’s recovery and resilience fund, in the context of
the European integration project and its future prospects. Janus.net, e-journal of international
relations. Vol12, Nº. 2, November 2021-April 2022. Consulted [online] on the date of the last
visit, https://doi.org/10.26619/1647-7251.12.2.10
Article received on March 31, 2021 and accepted for publication on September 7, 2021
JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations
e-ISSN: 1647-7251
Vol. 12, Nº. 2 (November 2021-April 2022), pp. 160-174
The European Union’s recovery and resilience fund,
in the context of the European integration project and its future prospects
Filipe Guerra
161
THE EUROPEAN UNION'S RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE FUND, IN
THE CONTEXT OF THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION PROJECT AND
ITS FUTURE PROSPECTS
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FILIPE GUERRA