Similarly, some national governments like Finland’s publicly announce when ministers are on summer holidays and which of their deputies are handling their portfolios.
“What matters from a crisis-management perspective is that the responsible authorities can take decisions quickly, mobilise the necessary resources and coordinate the response,” said a separate Commission spokesperson.
But even when mechanisms are in place to ensure governments have the ability to manage dramatic situations, officials on holiday risk looking callous or indifferent if they continue to holiday during a crisis.
In 2022, North Rhine-Westphalia Environment Minister Ursula Heinen-Esser was forced to step down after it was revealed that she had resumed a holiday break to Mallorca days after devastating floods killed over 180 people in western Germany the year before. Germany’s federal Family Minister Anne Spiegel also resigned in the face of backlash for similarly taking a four-week holiday in France in the aftermath of the catastrophe.
Evangelina Petridou, a crisis management expert and political science professor at Mid Sweden University, said a number of factors shape the intensity of backlash to a leader’s absence during a crisis. “Whether the opposition weaponizes the event, whether it is a majority or minority government and whether there is an institution in place to handle the crisis that can take the heat away from the individual minister or public official,” can all have an effect.
Another factor is the time of year, said Eisele, the crisis-communications researcher at the University of Amsterdam.