Democracy in Lockdown: Concentration of Powers in the European Parliament under COVID-19

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. This paper builds on a survey of and in-depth interviews with members and staff of the European Parliament to examine how the pandemic has affected legislative work. It argues that the move to remote work has heavily disrupted the formal and informal practices underpinning coalition-building inside the European Parliament. As a result, power has become even more concentrated in the hands of office holders – ensuring ‘business continuity’ in legislative work but weakening oversight mechanisms from backbenchers and outside groups. Therefore, while the European Parliament has been very successful in keeping the institution working and ensuring that decisions can be made in the European Union, the move to remote has shown the importance of face-to-face interactions to ensure that Parliament is not reduced to a rubber-stamping machine.