Emergency Politics and EU Health Policy: The European Commission’s Increased Role as Crisis Manager during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, and in the context of the European Union (EU), this has, by some, been seen as the call for extended crisis management capacity at the supranational level. The COVID 19 pandemic confronted the EU with an unprecedented challenge, initially marked by fragmentation as Member States closed borders and prioritised national responses. Yet within the first year, the European Commission (EC) emerged as a prominent crisis manager. This paper addresses two questions: (1) How did the EC’s role in the EU’s response during the first year of the COVID 19 pandemic affect governance within the area of health policy? And (2) What role did emergency politics play in this process? By applying the framework of Emergency Politics, the study investigates whether EU measures extended beyond the legal boundaries of Article 168 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Through content and thematic analysis of official Commission documents, the paper traces the evolution of the EU’s health-related responses to the pandemic, and the role of the EC in this process: from economic support for national healthcare systems to coordinating policy responses, joint procurement of medical supplies, vaccine negotiations on behalf of Member States, the establishment of a European COVID certificate, and the proposal for a European Health Union. The paper's findings demonstrate that most measures remained within the established legal framework, complementing national measures rather than transferring power and competence to the supranational EU level. However, the Commission’s role in vaccine procurement represented a departure from the legal basis of health policy in the treaties and was hence determined to be evidence of emergency politics. This temporary expansion of EU competency demonstrates how crises can accelerate institutional and policy changes, and also how supranational actors, such as the EC, can use crises to expand their competency.