The EU at times of crisis: The role of the European Council and the European Commission in shaping the EU’s response in the crisis decade

The aim of this paper is to determine whether the European Commission or the European Council shaped the European Union’s response to the sovereign debt and migration crises, the Brexit negotiations and the COVID-19 pandemic through their agenda-setting powers. Using the theoretical framework of new institutionalist leadership, this paper demonstrates the influence of the European Commission and the European Council across those four focusing events. A systematic analysis of the crises indicates that the extent to which the European Council could influence the agenda depended on the crisis. The findings also indicate that despite the emergence of the European Council as crisis manager, the heads of state or government continue to rely heavily on the Commission to turn its recommendations into legislative proposals or actions.