Use (and abuse?) of states of emergency in the Member States of the European Union during the pandemic

ABSTRACT

The present pandemic has already become a veritable case study to assess the constitutional foundations of states of emergency and their application in practice. As Covid-19 spread to every corner of the planet, countries rushed to adopt harsh containment measures, often within the framework of one of the states of emergency provided for in their constitutional texts. In this context, this paper analyses the use of states of emergency in the Member States of the European Union from March 2020 to June 2021, focusing in particular on the role of national parliaments and domestic courts in preventing possible abuses of power by the executive in the management of the pandemic.