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Public health has increasingly become a matter of international concern. This is particularly true in situations of trans-boundary health emergencies as demonstrated by the SARS and Ebola epidemics, and more recently by the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing on three European case studies, namely Germany, Turkey and the UK, this project engages in an in-depth analysis on the use of exceptional national security and emergency powers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic from both a constitutional and human rights perspective. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach based on the combination of a doctrinal legal analysis of the COVID-19 emergency measures in selected cases; a critical inquiry into the feasibility of global institutions and norms pertaining to public health, and a fieldwork based on qualitative, semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders and experts at both international and national levels, the project aims to offer novel insights into (1) whether there is a so-called European response to global health emergencies; (2) whether the existing (international) legal framework is sufficiently determinate and provides for legal certainty; (3) whether resorted emergency powers are adapted to today’s challenges, and if not; (4) what sorts of challenges they pose to the overarching objectives of modern constitutionalism and the rule of law.