Online Parliaments?

Abstract

Abstract The outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic forced many parliaments to ensure business continuity through the digitalisation of its activities. That was the case of the European Parliament, which held its first plenary session with remote electronic participation on 26 March 2020 and continued to work remotely until March 2022. During those two years, Parliament’s Rules of Procedure were changed, new videoconferencing tools and remote voting solutions were developed and parliamentary procedures were adapted to the new working methods. The digitalisation of parliamentary proceedings allowed the European Parliament to continue working during the crisis and can be praised for that. However, remote electronic participation is often criticised for its impact on parliamentary procedures and the way parliaments exercise their core functions. This paper proposes to look into the European Parliament’s experience during the pandemic in order to better assess the positive aspects and drawbacks of introducing remote working methods in legislatures.