Democratic Deficit in the EU
The Efforts to Rectify Supposed Structural Faults in the EU
Nov 14, 2009
The European Union is an economic and political union of twenty-seven states. The EU was established in 1992 by the Treaty of Maastricht.
What is democratic deficit?
A democratic deficit occurs when democratic countries, institutions or organisations for that matter are thought to be failing to achieve the principles of a democracy. The deficit is only perceived, because it is drawing a comparison against a benchmark which, in this case, is a political theory.
It shows a general dissatisfaction with the way 'democracy' is occurring wherever it is being applied.
Democratic Deficit in the EU
In this case, democratic deficit refers to lack of legitimacy of EU institutions and a lack of influence of its citizens. It refers to the lack of accessibility to the ordinary citizen and the lack of accountability of EU institutions.
It has been referred to as 'structural democratic deficit' as it is inherent to the structure and construction of the EU as a supranational entity which is neither purely intergovernmental, nor is it a federal state.
In a union such as the EU, it is difficult to achieve complete equality among all of the nation states, and also among all of its citizens, as would be expected from a democratic entity.
The Treaty of Lisbon and its Reforms
The recently ratified Treaty of Lisbon, which comes into force on 1 December 2009, modifies a number of elements in relation to the alleged democratic deficit. Here is a brief summary of the most major changes:
- Co decision will be established as a normal legislative procedure. Co decision gives the European Parliament the power to adopt legislation jointly with the Council, requiring the two institutions to agree before any proposal can become law.
- The Council will have to meet in public at all formal meetings.
- The Treaty ensures that national parliaments have the power to send any proposal back to the European Commission for reconsideration. In other words, member states may review new directives before they become law, and if 1/3 of the parliament votes to do so, they me ask the EU institutions to re-think a measure.
- The Treaty also confirms the principle of subsidiarity as a fundamental part of the EU. It regard organisation. It states that matters ought to be handled by the smallest/lowest/least centralised competent authority. It was originally brought into law with the Treaty of Maastricht, and was consolidated by the Treaties of Nice and Lisbon.
- The Lisbon Treaty creates a new citizens' right of initiative, obliging the Commission to consider any proposal that has the support of one million EU citizens.
As can be seen above, the Treaty of Lisbon introduces a number of new measures, and consolidates a number of older resolutions.
Sources:
Europa
"Democratic deficit in the European Union", Mihail Milev
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