APPROACHING THE COVID - 19 PANDEMIC FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT AND RISK MANAGEMENT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Abstract

More and more world leaders agree that the COVID-19 pandemic has established, "overnight", a new world order. Thus, this led to the rewriting of European public policies, in the sense of emphasizing risk management, responsible crisis management, emergency management, and even authoritarianism.

However, the course of events demonstrated that both the officials who handled the exceptional situation caused by COVID-19 and the citizens learned important lessons, becoming more cautious and responsible, experiencing solidarity and restoring their priorities. Thus, in this context, human capital is seen as the only inexhaustible resource, the human factor being alone able, not only to adapt to survive, but also to "reinvent".

Taking into account the aforementioned considerations, but also taking into account the examples from European administrations and the opinions expressed by the factors involved (decision makers, institutional implementers or ordinary citizens), in this paper, we intend to highlight how the institutions worked, in the current epidemiological context, focusing on how to make and implement decisions, in conditions of uncertainty, risk factors, uncertain developments, as well as in the context of gloomy forecasts in the European Union, determined by the large number of new cases.

Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic surprised and affected every organization and every individual, in part, affecting the natural course of their lives, professionally or personally. Certainly this pandemic was and is declared an unforeseen risk and for which, obviously, no solutions could be anticipated.