Democracy in Lockdown:
What Role for the European Parliament in the Covid-19 Crisis?
September 2020 - December 2020
Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
Project description
The Covid-19 crisis poses a particular problem for parliamentary democracy: how to uphold the main democratic principles if parliamentarians cannot meet? Internally, assemblies need to adapt to a sudden process of digitalisation and remote participation; externally, the crisis disrupts legislative processes and the capacity to shape policy. This is all the more noticeable on the European Union (EU) level, where crises often lead to a competition for leadership between executive and legislative powers.
In view of the challenges that Covid-19 poses to European democracy, the project asks: How
has the Covid-19 crisis affected the principles of representation, deliberation and accountability in European Union policy-making? The project will initiate a debate about how the European Parliament can tailor EU priorities, to what extent it can help regain a focus on European rather than national crisis-solving mechanisms and how to use the new digital environment to maximise its voice(s).
The Covid-19 crisis poses a particular problem for parliamentary democracy: how to uphold the main democratic principles if parliamentarians cannot meet? Internally, assemblies need to adapt to a sudden process of digitalisation and remote participation; externally, the crisis disrupts legislative processes and the capacity to shape policy. This is all the more noticeable on the European Union (EU) level, where crises often lead to a competition for leadership between executive and legislative powers.
In view of the challenges that Covid-19 poses to European democracy, the project asks: How
has the Covid-19 crisis affected the principles of representation, deliberation and accountability in European Union policy-making? The project will initiate a debate about how the European Parliament can tailor EU priorities, to what extent it can help regain a focus on European rather than national crisis-solving mechanisms and how to use the new digital environment to maximise its voice(s).
Publications
Ariadna Ripoll Servent and Alfredo De Feo (2022), "The European Parliament Under COVID-19: Institutional Adaptation in Times of Pandemics", in: Olivier Costa and Steven Van Hecke (Eds.): The EU Political System After the 2019 European Elections, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 285-305.
Sarah Wolff, Ariadna Ripoll Servent and Agathe Piquet (2020) ‘Framing Immobility: Schengen governance in times of Pandemics’, Journal of European Integration, vol. 42(8), pp. 1127-1144
Ariadna Ripoll Servent and Alfredo De Feo (2022), "The European Parliament Under COVID-19: Institutional Adaptation in Times of Pandemics", in: Olivier Costa and Steven Van Hecke (Eds.): The EU Political System After the 2019 European Elections, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 285-305.
Sarah Wolff, Ariadna Ripoll Servent and Agathe Piquet (2020) ‘Framing Immobility: Schengen governance in times of Pandemics’, Journal of European Integration, vol. 42(8), pp. 1127-1144