BRITAIN’S DEPARTURE from the European Union (Brexit) was the first separation in the history of the union. German discipline, which is the main pillar of the union, has designed all the rules of joining the union and entering the euro in the finest detail, but it is strange and obvious that they did not prepare the handbook of leaving the union (I will not get surprised if this happens for Euro in the future!). “Divorce” was barely able to “bargain” for both parties.

The road map of the Brexit process had not been fully clarified, and the Coronavirus outbreak was involved. The spread of the epidemic to the world will have brand new results and we will call the next period as “PostCorona”. Just like BC and AD… My first conclusion from this crisis was that the “World Leader” position and the other global institutions were vacant! On the one hand, with Trump gaining power, USA voluntarily withdrew from the world leadership position; on the other hand, it strengthened the perception that the actions of institutions such as the United Nations, IMF, World Bank, ILO, WHO, which were established after World War II, did not work in such a global crisis. Countries could not act jointly against such an epidemic that requires global solutions instead of national/regional solutions!

Similar to this happened in the EU! They could not develop a common policy against the epidemic in the EU. When the epidemic spread rapidly in Italy, countries closed their borders without mutual notice. Aid to Italy came from Russia and China. If they do not support each other in such days; a union without a common fiscal policy and a common constitution; especially after Brexit, how will it continue its way?

In order for Europe to achieve a federal United States structure like the USA, they must first agree in a common constitution. They tried this but could not succeed. There are common monetary policies and the ECB, but they could not establish neither a common fiscal policy nor a common tax structure. While the differences in interest rates between countries are miniscule, there are differences in tax rates that may even cause unfair competition between them. They did not/could not establish a “united army”. What kind of a relationship will Italy and Spain, which we can call “Southern EU” and were most affected by Coronavirus develop with other EU countries where it does not get any help or support during this crisis? My guess is that the EU will chatter. In case that Germany, which gets the most advantage from keeping this union alive, does not employ any supportive actions towards other countries, these countries will return to into their own shelves.

The breaks in the global supply chain, one of the most important results of PostCorona, will increase the importance of local productions. Countries will turn more into their own lands both in terms of production and sociologically and I guess they will raise both the visa and the customs walls. (We can witness the repetition of the period before the Great Depression in the USA in 1929 and World War II!)

Whether history will repeat itself or not is in the hands of us. Will we increase global cooperation, strengthen leading institutions that serve humanity, or will everyone go their own way?