![Sample our Politics & International Relations journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5947/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Politics-International-Relations.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
As with previous crises, the European Union’s (EU) reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic has again highlighted the European Council’s pivotal role in the EU’s institutional architecture and development. In creating the ‘Next Generation EU’ recovery package in July 2020, it provided the Union’s main instrument for coping with economic damage resulting from the pandemic. In both the run-up to and aftermath of this history-making decision, the European Council acted as the driver of a horizontal and vertical fusion of responsibilities: horizontally, it instructed and partly relied on other EU institutions; vertically, it satisfied and further developed close links between the EU and national levels of government. Scrutinising the different phases of a policymaking cycle (preparation, decision, implementation, control), this article highlights and puts into perspective the European Council’s key activities at each stage.
Acknowledgments
Previous versions of this article were presented at the European University Institute in Florence, the Annual Doctoral Conference of the CEU in Vienna, and the ECPR Joint Sessions in Edinburgh. For helpful comments and suggestions, we would like to thank Rachel Epstein, Robin Huguenot-Noël, Stella Ladi, Jan Lepeu, Moritz Neubert, Laura Polverari, and Sarah Wolff as well as the editors and two anonymous reviewers from the Journal of European integration. For expert editorial support, we would like to thank Roland Parr.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. We conducted a first round of expert interviews in late 2020 and early 2021 to scrutinise development and delivery of the recovery package. In April 2022, we pursued a second round of interviews to enquire about the implementation of NGEU and experts’ experiences. We obtained further information in the context of an Executive Training Seminar organised by the European University Institute in Florence during May 2021. Our interviewees and interlocutors comprised civil servants from the European Commission and the Council of the EU, national policymakers, officials from the national administrations of seven EU member states, as well as various think tankers based in Brussels. To obtain relevant information, we guaranteed confidentiality to all interviewees.
2. Conclusions by the President of the European Council following the video conference on COVID-19, 10 March 2020.
3. The document is available at https://www.governo.it/sites/new.governo.it/files/letter_michel_20200325_eng.pdf
4. Eurogroup: Report on the comprehensive economic policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic, 9 April 2020.
5. European Council: Joint statement of the members of the European Council, 26 March 2020.
6. European Council: Conclusions of the President of the European Council following the video conference of the members of the European Council, 23 April 2020.
7. Interviews with civil servants from the German finance ministry (26 November 2020) and the German federal government (8 January 2021).
8. European Commission: Europe’s moment. Repair and prepare for the next generation, 27 May 2020.
9. European Council: Conclusions, 17–21 July, Annex Point 23.
10. Resolution by the European Parliament of 23 July 2020 on the conclusions of the extraordinary European Council meeting of 17–21 July 2020 (Citation2020/2732(RSP)).
11. Interview at the German Permanent Representation in Brussels, January 2021.
12. Multiannual financial framework for 2021–2027 adopted. Council of the EU, 17 December 2020.
13. EU recovery package: Council adopts Recovery and Resilience Facility. Council of the EU, 11 February 2021.
14. Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget.
15. European Council: Meeting (10 and 11 December 2020) – Conclusions, Point I. 2c.
16. Resolution of 17 December 2020 on the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021–2027, the Interinstitutional Agreement, the EU Recovery Instrument and the Rule of Law Regulation (2020/2923(RSP)).
17. Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 February 2021 establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility, Recitals 23 and 26.
18. Regulation (EU) 2021/241, Recital 4.
19. Information gained via civil servants from the Commission and several national administrations, May 2021.
20. Regulation (EU) 2021/241, Recital 52.
21. Regulation (EU) 2021/241, Art. 35.
22. Interviews with civil servants from DG Ecfin and the EFC, April 2022.
23. European Council: Conclusions, 17–21 July, Point A19.
24. Interview with civil servant from the German finance ministry, 26 November 2020; interview with civil servant from the Commission, 4 December 2020.