The Procedural Legacy of Two Years of COVID-19 Pandemic: How the Temporary Modification of the Council’s Rules of Procedure Became Permanent

At the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, when EU efficiency was of the essence, the Council adapted its internal working methods to allow for a speedy continuation of its work. It decided to lower the majority requirements provided for using the ordinary written procedure at the sole COREPER level, while unanimity remained the rule for the same decision at the Council level. The procedure proved to be efficient and contributed to the continuity of the EU decision-making process throughout the pandemic. However, this came with a democratic cost. After having repeated that the simplified majority rules to trigger the written procedure was exceptional and temporary, the Council finally decided to make them permanent. That raises the question of the legacy of the crisis for the Council’s decision-making. The chapter assesses the ordinary written procedure from a constitutional perspective, using the principles of effectiveness, democratic accountability and transparency as benchmarks.