A new special issue in the Journal of Legislative Studies brings together a collection of articles on events and dynamics defining the European Parliament’s ninth term (2019-2024). With Francis Jacobs (School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin), I contributed an article on the European Parliament and the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic posed major practical problems for the functioning of the various EU institutions and bodies. The EP was among those most heavily affected, given its size and multinational composition. We show how the EP sought to overcome the problems posed by the pandemic, not only to carry out its legislative obligations but perhaps most of all to meet its democratic responsibilities. Our article focuses on how the EP sought to manifest its role as provider of democratic legitimacy in the EU’s COVID-19 response. To this end, the article first examines through what measures the EP managed to keep its parliamentary work going during the pandemic. It then analyses how the EP pursued its ongoing involvement in, and more generally enhanced democratic legitimacy of, EU crisis management. In so doing, the article produces new insight on how the pandemic shaped the EP’s role in EU politics in and beyond the COVID-19 crisis.
Read the article here: https://doi.org/10.1080/13572334.2024.2443879.