EU resilience in times of COVID? Polity maintenance, public support, and solidarity

Abstract This introduction presents the theoretical framework, aims, and summary of this special issue. We want to explain European Union’s (EU) response COVID crisis from a ‘polity perspective’ (Kriesi 2021; Ferrera 2005). conceptualize EU as compound ‘experimental’ polity which develops along three dimensions: binding (capacity building sovereignty), bounding (bordering), bonding (solidarity loyalty). structure contributions around following themes: maintenance (how did affect policymaking in EU?); reactions building: public support, populism, emergency politics (did perceive illegitimate? EU’s policy spur populism?); solidarity (to what extent stimulate cross-national solidarity?). show that, overall, weathered storm better than expected for potentially fragile multilevel polity. The triggered unprecedented institutional innovation, underpinned by pan-European solidarity, citizens not backlash against politics.