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1 [1] (October 28, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdcig0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Europe, COVID-19, and U.S. Relations Like most of the rest of the world, European governments and the European Union (EU)have struggled to manage the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. European leaders have characterized thepandemic as Europe's biggest challenge sincethe Second World War, with potentially far-reaching political, social, and economic consequences beyond the public health impact. COVID-19 also has addednew tensions to an already strainedU.S.- European partnership. Members of Congress may be interested in COVID-19's implications forU.S. relations with Europe, including in NATO and with the EU, and in how the pandemic might alter certain U.S.-European dynamics, especially vis-a-vis China. The first wave of the pandemic in Europe occurred in spring 2020 but subsided in the summer. A second wave began in early fall 2020. As oflate October 2020, about 6.6 million confirmed COVID-19 infections andover 215,000 deaths had been reported across the 27-member EU, the United Kingdom(UK), Norway, and Switzerland (out of a combined population ofroughly 527 million). Table I. COVID-1 9 Casesand Deaths in Europe: Top I 0 Affected Countries (by number of cases, as of end of October 2020) Deaths Case Country Cases Deaths per Fatality 100,000 Rates France 1,244,242 35,582 53.12 2.9% Spain 1,116,738 35,298 75.55 3.2% UK 920,664 45,455 68.36 4.9% Italy 564,778 37,700 62.38 6.7% Germany 463,419 10,121 12.20 2.2% Belgium 333,718 10,899 95.42 3.3% Netherlands 318,152 7,204 41.81 2.3% Czech Rep. 284,033 2,547 23.97 0.9% Poland 280,229 4,615 12.15 1.6% Romania 217,216 6,574 33.76 3.0% Source: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Coronavirus Resource Center, October 28, 2020, updated daily at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/. As seen in Table 1, France, Spain, and the UK have experienced the largestnumber of infections. The second wave is hitting several Central and Eas tern European countries-including the Czech Republic and Poland- Updated October 28,2020 harder than the first wave. Although ris ing new infections may be due partly to increased testing, the second surge follows the relaxation ofrestrictions on social and economic activity in many European countries over the summer and the onsetof colder weather. To date, death rates across Europe appear lower than during the first wave, but many public health officials predict these rates may climb, given the rise in cases and hospitalizations. European Responses In March 2020, in response to the first wave of the pandemic, nearly all European governments imposed national lockdown restrictions and social-distancing measures-including banning large gatherings, closing schools and nonessential businesses, and restricting movement-although these measures varied by country in strictness and other aspects. Most European governments also enacted nationalborder controls. Swedentooka notably different approach that trusted citizens to practice social distancing and imposed few mandatory restrictions; some public health experts remain skeptical about this policy's success in building immunity among the general public and contend it failed to protect the mostvulnerable. European governments began implementing phased reopeningplans in mid-Apriland early May 2020. Most European leaders stressed the need for continued social distancing, and many governments required the use of facemasks, especially indoors. The pandemic has spurred serious economic difficulties throughout Europe. For 2020, the EU forecasts its total economy will contract by 8.3% and average unemployment across the bloc will rise to 9%. The UK's economy entered into recession inAugust2020. Measures enacted by European governments to mitigate the economic downturn include loan programs and credit guarantees for companies, income subsidies for affected workers, taxdeferrals, and debt repayment deferments. As COVID-19 cases began to increase again in early fall, European governments initially attemptedto avoid asecond round ofnationallockdowns, opting insteadfor targeted restrictions onregionalorlocalvirus hot spotsto preserve economic recovery andin light of growing pandemic fatigue and public protests. Mostgovernments have kept schools open, but many havebeen implementing progressively more restrictivemeasures. These measures have included, for example, imposing curfews, closing or restricting the operation of restaurants and bars, further limiting social gatherings, and expanding mandatory mask usage. By the end of October, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and others had reimposednational restrictions, although measures in some countries are less stringent than during the first wave.

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