The European core–periphery divide: towards a new narrative

Economic theory has recently begun to consider the economic impact of narratives. Narrative economics can also be extended to the analysis of the economic–political effect of narratives in the context of the European core–periphery divide, which intensified after the European sovereign-debt crisis. The dominant narrative of the crisis has placed a lot of responsibility on southern member countries. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 emergency, this narrative has returned to influence European public debate. The authors state the importance of analysing the dominant narrative to understand its validity in explaining the sovereign-debt crisis, and the importance of overcoming it to face the health emergency effectively. Therefore, starting from some alternative explanations regarding the European crisis, a new alternative narrative is presented, which underlines the issues connected to the competitive attitude among member countries and the political disequilibrium that characterizes Economic and Monetary Union architecture.