The Role of Integration Associations in the Fight against Pandemics on the Example of the European Union and Eurasian Economic Union

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. The academic value of this article lies in augmenting the scientific understanding of the role of integration unions in healthcare and the methods and means of combating pandemics and epidemics at an integration level. This is achieved by addressing the research objective: to identify the legal and institutional structures and mechanisms existing at the level of integration unions for combating pandemics and their consequences, and to assess their effectiveness. The research objectives are defined as follows: to examine the actions of integration unions in combating the pandemic from legal and material- economic perspectives; to determine the actual role of integration unions in combating pandemics and similar threats to public health for the further improvement of international cooperation and Eurasian integration; to evaluate the compliance of the actions of integration union institutions with their founding documents; and to develop ways to improve integrations in the field of health protection based on the experience gained.MATERIALS AND METHODS. The methodological basis of the research is grounded in the general philosophical method of dialectics. Special and specific scientific methods applied include: the comparative legal method (comparing the legal systems and regulations of different integration unions, and the various measures taken in response to the pandemic), the sociological method (examining the impact of pandemic conditions on society in different integration environments), and the axiological method (studying values as the foundation of integration unions, their reflection, and influence on making internationally significant decisions).RESEARCH RESULTS. In determining the effectiveness of the institutions, structures, and mechanisms of integration unions in ensuring epidemiological wellbeing, a significant role of integrations in counteracting pandemic and epidemiological threats to health has been identified. This is evidenced by the actions and measures taken by the EU and the EAEU during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Aspects of cooperation between member countries (transport communication, coordination of sanitary measures, support of the economy and social sphere, information and experience exchange) and the institutions of these integration unions (European Commission, European Parliament, Eurasian Economic Commission) were dictated by their founding acts (TEU, TFEU, Treaty on the EAEU) and other documents.DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. During the crisis, not only challenges requiring solutions in ensuring well-being (balance of freedoms and restrictions, rational allocation of resources, balance of national and integration interests) emerged, but also prospects for the future development of integrations (NextGenerationEU Plan, the emergence of a Global Digital Health Certification Network). Judicial practice was formed (lawsuits by the European Commission, work of the EAEU Court). Conclusions highlight the need to increase the resilience and centralization of EU healthcare systems, prepare the budget for potential future threats, which serves as a useful experience for Eurasian integration, and the importance of deepening integration, reforming existing institutions, and establishing interstate dialogue for the EAEU. The crisis became a catalyst for the development of integrations, the cause of the emergence of new conflicts and contradictions, the solutions of which determined the direction of evolution in the future.