Democratic Accountability in a Post-COVID-19 World

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

Abstract

The paper takes as its point of departure that accountability is both about making accounts and holding to account. The distinction is important in experimental and deeply contested polities such as the EU, for at least two reasons of relevance to this panel. One is because any effort to hold to account will ultimately relate back to some form of account of what is democratically legitimate. The other is that in the EU context, the European Council (which is composed of heads of state and government) is a major part of the EU executive and is at the same time responsible for EU treaty changes; hence, plays a key role in account making. This paper will discuss the EU’s proposals for handling the corona pandemic with reference to three models of constitutional design: a demoicratic or a Europe of sovereign states; a Europe of two tiers; and the EU as a non-state regional government. Each provides its own distinct account of democratic accountability and the institutional and procedural arrangements for how to ensure that. The paper will assess the EU’s proposals for how to deal with the corona pandemic in relation to each of these models.

Author

• John Erik Fossum, University of Oslo