Corona Crisis Tendencies in the European Economy: New Challenges, Risks, Expectations

In the introduction of the article, the authors argued the critical relevance of the subject under consideration and described results of studies conducted both by international organizations and individual experts assessing the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic for the European Union and the available information and methodological foundations of a qualitative study of the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The article describes in detail the economic consequences of a coronavirus attack for the European region. The authors analyzed the main barriers to rapid economic recovery, the effects of the European Commission’s anti-crisis actions, short-term trends, forecasts of international organizations, and risks that emerged in the first half of 2020. According to the authors, many anti-crisis measures were taken in the region too gradually and heterogeneously across countries. Economic uncertainty and risks are still high. The divergence of countries, associated with the exit from the coronavirus crisis, is increasing. The authors also analyzed well-known composite indicators of business cycle surveys that reflect the short-term changes in economic sentiments of entrepreneurs and consumers in the European Union and the euro area and are published more quickly than traditional quantitative observations. The authors’ assessments are confirmed by the results of surveys conducted by international and national organizations, which indicate that all negative trends that characterize the «economic anxiety» of European managers and consumers have begun to slow down.