Belgian responses to COVID-19

This contribution appraises the most relevant measures adopted in Belgium against the spread of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Moreover, it underscores how the complex Belgian institutional setup has hampered the adoption of prompt and effective responses to the Pandemic. To this end, in Section 1 it fleshes out the structure of the Belgian state, in particular highlighting the tangled division of competences across different levels of government. In Section 2 and 3, it analyses the measures adopted by the Federal, Regional and Local governments amidst the most severe phase of the Pandemic’s outbreak.... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Fermeglia, Matteo
Van Garsse, Steven
Todts, Liesbeth
Dokumenttyp: journalarticle
Erscheinungsdatum: 2021
Schlagwörter: Law and Political Science
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27303907
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/01H79XDGXARTR6G87PWSCBGS6J

This contribution appraises the most relevant measures adopted in Belgium against the spread of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Moreover, it underscores how the complex Belgian institutional setup has hampered the adoption of prompt and effective responses to the Pandemic. To this end, in Section 1 it fleshes out the structure of the Belgian state, in particular highlighting the tangled division of competences across different levels of government. In Section 2 and 3, it analyses the measures adopted by the Federal, Regional and Local governments amidst the most severe phase of the Pandemic’s outbreak. Relevant, the unclear allocation of competences and powers among levels of government as to the adoption of Covid-19 measures led to legal and institutional conflicts. In Section 4, 5 and 6 it skims through the evolution of the emergency regulatory regime following the Covid-19 spread, the measures aimed at contact-tracing and those aimed at supporting economic activities, respectively. In Section 7, it displays the most relevant domestic case law against the adopted Covid-19 measures. Last, in Section 8 it analyses the latest developments towards a new comprehensive legal regimes to tackle the current and future massive health crisis in Belgium.