Resumen de The European Parliament and the COVID-19 crisis

Francis B. Jacobs, Mechthild Roos

• The COVID-19 pandemic posed major practical problems for the functioning ofthe various EU institutions and bodies. Among those most heavily affected wasthe European Parliament (EP). The EP sought to overcome the problems posedby the pandemic as much as possible, not only to carry out its legislativeobligations but perhaps most of all to meet its democratic responsibilities.This article focuses on how the EP sought to manifest its role as provider ofdemocratic legitimacy in the EU’s COVID-19 response. To this end, the articlefirst examines through what measures the EP managed to keep itsparliamentary work going during the pandemic. It then analyses how the EPpursued its ongoing involvement in, and more generally enhanceddemocratic legitimacy of, EU crisis management. In so doing, the articleproduces new insight on how the pandemic shaped the EP’s role in EUpolitics in and beyond the COVID-19 crisis.