What’s in a Name? European Uses of States of Exception During COVID-19, from the book Covid-19 Containment Policies in Europe
Book Title: Covid-19 Containment Policies in Europe
Chapter Title: What’s in a Name? European Uses of States of Exception During COVID-19 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-52096-9_2
Chapter Author: Clara Egger, Assistant Professor of Global Governance in the Department of Public Administration and Sociology, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Book Series: International Series on Public Policy https://link.springer.com/series/15096
Date of Publication: 26 May 2024
Book Citation: Clara Egger, Raul Magni-Berton, Eugénie de Saint-Phalle. Covid-19 Containment Policies in Europe, Palgrave Macmillan Cham, 26 May 2024 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-52096-9
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has led a large range of European governments to rely on emergency powers to try to contain the pandemic. While emergency legislation grants the executive with more extensive powers to handle an immediate threat to the survival of a community, the extent of such powers, their modalities of activation as well as the monitoring and other roles of counterpowers vary from one country to the next. This chapter analyses the diversity of practices and legal provisions hidden behind the reference to a “state of emergency.” It first shows that the legal basis of such provisions differs. While some governments activated constitutional provisions, others relied on pre-existing crisis-management legal frameworks. Second, the timing and duration of emergency measures ranged from 65 days (Estonia) to 861 (France). It then assesses whether differences in the legal framework used translated into differences in the stringency of the measures introduced. On the one hand, state of emergency provisions shield democracy against a concentration of powers in the hands of the executive better than disaster-management legislation does. On the other hand, the activation of emergency powers also coincides with more stringent restrictions of fundamental rights. In strengthening legal preparedness to future crises, policy makers need to be particularly cautious in devising legal arsenals that maintain high levels of democratic governance and oversight in crisis times.
The chapter and entire book is open access, and available here. A hardcover version can also be purchased on the same site.
