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For the first time in 13 years, Germany will take over the presidency of the EU Council on 1 July, a time in which the coronavirus crisis poses exceptional challenges to joint political action. The focus is shifting more and more from addressing medical challenges to responding to political, social and economic issues. The coronavirus pandemic might exacerbate social inequalities in and between the EU countries, with huge differences in how much the member states are affected. This raises the question: How much European solidarity is necessary in the crisis, and how much is politically possible?

Two researchers from Konstanz, sociologist Sebastian Koos and political scientist Dirk Leuffen, examined the willingness in Germany to grant aid. Now they are making their results publicly available in a policy paper: In addition to presenting the results of their study, the authors also have included conclusions for practical political action. It is the first paper to be published in the large-scale survey programme run by the Cluster of Excellence “The Politics of Inequality” at the University of Konstanz, in which Koos and Leuffen are members.

On the basis of the current survey data collected from 4,800 respondents, the two social researchers conclude: While people are rather positive about granting medical assistance, they are much more sceptical about giving financial aid. Around two thirds of the persons questioned are in favour of providing medical goods such as ventilators and face masks to particularly afflicted countries, less than a fifth disapproves. Financial aid, however, would be supported by only 44 % of the respondents. When talking about the so-called corona bonds, support decreases to only 26 %, with a clear majority (56 %) opposing such an aid measure.

Illness versus financial hardship
Apparently, the respondents clearly distinguish between the threat from the virus and its economic consequences. “Sick people are attributed a huge, legitimate need for help. Consequently, a health-related emergency triggers an impulse to help that, to a certain extent, might supersede other interests and attitudes”, explains Sebastian Koos. “And indeed, our results confirm that, across party lines, the participants in our survey support medical solidarity.”

Political views, in contrast, play a role when talking about financial assistance for countries in economic distress. Voters of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) or Alternative for Germany (AfD) are more likely to oppose financial aid. Voters of the left party “Die Linke” or the green party “Bündnis 90/Die Grünen” on the other hand are more willing to grant financial assistance to countries afflicted by the coronavirus crisis.

“Political orientation, however, is not the only factor. What also plays a major role is to what extent the affected countries are considered responsible for their predicament”, adds Dirk Leuffen. The respondents were more likely to deny aid to countries that had not taken precautions for a crisis in the past. In this respect, too, fiscal policy “mistakes” made in the past are assessed much more critically than health policy “mistakes” – irrespective of the pandemic as the actual cause of the crisis.

“Over the past few years, the importance of public support for European policy has become evident”, says Dirk Leuffen. “For European redistribution measures during the coronavirus pandemic it is therefore of central importance how they are communicated and explained to the public. Solely focussing on costs will reduce the readiness to help. It is absolutely essential to also take the mid-term and long-term interests of donors into account”.

Survey programme on the implications of the coronavirus crisis and data basis
The paper by Sebastian Koos and Dirk Leuffen is the first in a series conducted in the large-scale survey programme run by the Cluster of Excellence “The Politics of Inequality” at the University of Konstanz. With the help of surveys, the researchers strive to better understand how people in Germany respond to the social and political consequences of the coronavirus crisis.

“Our survey programme covers the social and political implications of the coronavirus pandemic. We examine solidarity and the trust in government action, the perception of social inequality, but also the effects of digitalization when working from home as well as new safety regulations for the work place”, explains Professor Marius Busemeyer, professor of political science and speaker of the Cluster of Excellence. Co-speaker Professor Claudia Diehl adds: “All these topics are an integral part of the Cluster of Excellence’s programme. Our survey programme on the coronavirus crisis now combines our research interests with daily developments.”

The social researchers from Konstanz questioned more than 8,000 persons living in Germany online during the period from April to June 2020 (more details about how the persons were selected and the data basis are available from: https://www.exc.uni-konstanz.de/en/inequality/research/covid-19-and-inequality-surveys-program/).

In the coming weeks, further results of the surveys will be published in a paper series titled “COVID-19 and Inequality – Arguments and Findings”.

Key facts:

• Large-scale survey programme on the correlation between the coronavirus pandemic and inequality run by the Cluster of Excellence “The Politics of Inequality” at the University of Konstanz
• Current publication: Sebastian Koos, Dirk Leuffen: Beds or Bonds? Conditional Solidarity in the Coronavirus Crisis. Policy Papers: COVID-19 and Inequality – Arguments and Findings 01. 19 June 2020.
  Download: http://progressives-zentrum.org/europaeische-solidaritaet-post-corona 
• Publisher of the policy papers series: Cluster of Excellence “The Politics of Inequality” at the University of Konstanz in collaboration with “Das Progressive Zentrum”, Berlin
• “Das Progressive Zentrum” is an independent non-profit think tank that aims to promote the interconnection between progressive actors as well as to make policies for economic and social progress that are broadly acceptable. Its headquarters are in Berlin with activities in many European countries (e.g. France, Poland, Great Britain) as well as in the US.
• Dirk Leuffen is professor of political science with a focus on international politics at the University of Konstanz and a member of the Cluster of Excellence. His research interests include European integration, decision making in the EU and the interplay between domestic and international politics.
• Sebastian Koos is junior professor of corporate social responsibility at the University of Konstanz and also a member of the Cluster of Excellence. His research focuses on economic and organizational sociology as well as political sociology, particularly on corporate responsibility, social movements and solidarity.