The limited role of the European Union in the management and governance of the COVID-19 pandemic

Building on two global Symposia hosted by the erfassungsblog and convened by the author, the 2020 “covid-19 and States of Emergency” and the 2021 “Power and the covid-19 Pandemic”, in addition to the findings of the Democracy Reporting International ‘Rule of Law Stress Test’ which surveyed EU Member States’ responses to the pandemic, this article investigates the impact of the pandemic on governance and legal systems within the EU, and evaluates the actions taken by EU institutions and national governments in response to the health crisis against the standards of the rule of law