Abstract During crises, executives are empowered at the expense of legislatures. This applied also to the COVID period. Focusing on two stable yet different European democracies, France and Finland, this article examines the internal and external factors affecting the ability of parliaments to control the executive during the pandemic. The empirical analysis considers institutional developments affecting parliaments as well as the behaviour of MPs. The benefit of hindsight enables us to assess the entire COVID period, showing that in both countries the initial dominance of the executive was followed by more assertive parliamentary behaviour. The results indicate that, despite difficult conditions, parliaments in both countries displayed adaptability and resilience, but power constellations pre-dating the COVID period impacted on the respective roles of the French and Finnish parliaments.