Constitutionalizing the EU in an age of emergencies

Over the last decade especially, European authorities have successively invoked exceptional measures in the name of exceptional circumstances. This improvised mode of emergency response raises problems for EU legitimacy. After a brief analysis of the core patterns, the article examines the scope for reform. It considers the case for pre-emptively strengthening the EU's emergency powers in the form of an ‘emergency constitution’. It goes on to argue for more radical EU constitutional change, focused not on regulating the exceptional moment but simplifying and democratizing executive power, such that when hard times arrive it is better tied to a critical public. A concluding section discusses what can be achieved by retrospective contestation, as an interim solution in advance of constitutional change.