Dynamic informal interconnections and formalization in the European Union – The many faces of crisis reaction

In the turn of recent crises – the “polycrisis” – that hit the EU and its Member States these days, institutional structures and governing dynamics are challenged. The article focuses on the evolution dynamics of informal modes of cooperation at the EU level and with Member States in the turn of crisis response, as well as the Union’s post-crisis institutional adjustments. Based on a substantiated analysis of web data and EU documents, a survey amongst German officials in different EU related policy areas as well as expert interviews with EU officials and German bureaucrats active in Brussels, we examine to what extent crisis management in the European multi-level system is characterized by informality, and how informality relates to subsequent formalization. We find that the trend towards informality in the EU seems to be amplified in the context of crises, in the short-term displaying patterns of “muddling through” and “failing forward”, and observe a subsequent formalization of informal arenas in the form of new formal structures and organizations that can be interpreted as heading forward.