The EU’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Issue of Democratic Legitimacy

Session Submission Type: Virtual Full Paper Panel

Session Description

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Europe hard. It is the most serious crisis that the EU has faced since its very inception. Crises and emergencies are generally understood as ‘the hour of the executive’. In such circumstances, there is a special need for the executive to mobilize the requisite resources, and to act in a swift and decisive manner. Crisis-handling operates on a timeline of decision-making that is not easily reconcilable with the timeline that procedurally sound democratic decision-making requires. Nevertheless, there is a distinction between executive prominence and executive dominance; the former is largely compatible with democratic authorization and accountability, the latter is not. In this panel, we will focus on the EU’s handling of the corona pandemic with emphasis on the EU executive, EU action capability, and democratic accountability. Each of these issues takes on a distinctive shape in the EU, with bearings on democratic governance not only at the EU level but also at the national. The EU executive is institutionally divided. The EU requires capacity-buildup to act decisively in a crisis. And it needs member-state executives in the Council to approve and/or facilitate many of its actions. In this complex multiple executive system, the question of how to ensure democratic accountability is a deeply contested issue. The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled governments and parliaments to act unilaterally in some instances, without the usual democratic consultation procedures; to adopt new technology to make up for the lack of physical contact in legislatures; and to temporarily suspend citizens’ rights (e.g., to freedom of movement). This brings in new dynamics and raises new questions of relevance for executive-legislative relations and democratic accountability to the citizens more broadly.

Sub Unit

• Division 15: European Politics and Society

Individual Presentations

• The Pandemic’s Effects: Sectional Divides in the European Union - Sergio Fabbrini, Luiss Guido Carli

• Democratic Accountability in a Post-COVID-19 World - John Erik Fossum, University of Oslo

• The Legitimacy of EU Executives During Emergency Pandemic Politics - Vivien A. Schmidt, Boston University

• Covid-19’s Impact on Macro-Economic Policy Coordination in EU Member States - Amy Verdun, University of Victoria

Chair

• James A. Caporaso University of Washington

Discussant

• Craig A. Parsons University of Oregon