The European Council as a crisis manager and fusion driver: assessing the EU’s fiscal response to the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT As with previous crises, the European Union’s (EU) reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic has again highlighted the European Council’s pivotal role in the EU’s institutional architecture and development. In creating the ‘Next Generation EU’ recovery package in July 2020, it provided the Union’s main instrument for coping with economic damage resulting from the pandemic. In both the run-up to and aftermath of this history-making decision, the European Council acted as the driver of a horizontal and vertical fusion of responsibilities: horizontally, it instructed and partly relied on other EU institutions; vertically, it satisfied and further developed close links between the EU and national levels of government. Scrutinising the different phases of a policymaking cycle (preparation, decision, implementation, control), this article highlights and puts into perspective the European Council’s key activities at each stage.