John O'Brennan: Member states must share blame in EU's handling of Covid crisis

Scapegoating Brussels is much easier for governments than owning up to failures at the national level of decision-making

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. The commission was in a very poor position to take charge of the crisis because healthcare is a sector where there is very little EU competence; nevertheless, within a short period, the commission began to co-ordinate an increasingly effective response.

Tens of millions of people around Europe are spending a second Easter in lockdown, after a devastating resurgence of the Covid virus in different parts of the continent.

In many countries, there is palpable disappointment at the failure of the EU to “get a grip” on a crisis that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and accelerating economic damage.