Is the "democratic deficit" of the European Union a political or institutional problem?

Résumé du document

"No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time; but there is the broad feeling in our country that the people should rule, continuously rule". When the famous British politician W. Churchill made this speech, he pointed out two of the main characteristics of democracy. This form of government may not be the greatest, but it is the best of all the other alternative forms and consists in a universal standard of human society. Besides, in democracy, power is supposed to be held by the people, (demos in Greek,) in order to be legitimate. This legitimacy represents one of the key requirements of democratic regimes, along with the constitutional element. Viewed from this perspective the European Union (EU) seems to be suffering from a "democratic malaise" since the Maastricht ratification crisis. According to Weiler the consensual way of integration used since the creation of the EU did not seem to work anymore and the European citizens began to feel excluded from the EU policy-making.

Extraits

[...] Legitimacy and the European Union, p Weiler J.H.H., European Democracy and Its Critics: Polity and System, p Ibid. Ibid. (Dehousse : 1995), quoted by Banchoff T., Smith M.P., p Ibid. Schmidt V.A., The European Union: Democratic Legitimacy in a Regional State?, p Ibid. [...]

[...] De la démocratie en Europe, p.4 Quoted by Follesdal A., Hix S., Why There Is a Democratic Deficit in the EU, p Follesdal A., Hix S., p Wallace H., p Banchoff T., Smith M.P., p Archer C., Butler F., The European Union, (Palgrave Macmillan, 1996), p Andersen S. and. Eliassen K.A. The European Union: How democratic is p Wallace H., p (Wallace, 1993:101) quoted by Banchoff T., Smith M.P., p Banchoff T., Smith M.P., p Banchoff T., Smith M.P. Legitimacy and the European Union, p Ibid., p (Weiler, 1995), quoted by Wallace H., p Banchoff T., Smith M.P. Legitimacy and the European Union, p Ibid. Ibid., p Ibid. http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/emblem/index_en.htm http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/anthem/index_en.htm Banchoff T., Smith M.P. [...]

[...] Furthermore, the Europe even has its own country code domain in use since December 2005. Finally, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, its single currency, the euro, and its motto “united in diversity” brilliantly show the ambitious will of creating an “ever closer union”. Besides, the concept of European citizenship, introduced by the Treaty on European Union at Maastricht, represents a key element in this search for legitimacy. It is still more a formal than a tangible concept, but its extension could “lead more Europeans to recognize the EU as a legitimate framework for political contestation, and promote the legitimation of the integration project.”[30] Last but not least, there has been too much emphasis put on the flaws of institutional mechanisms, as we discussed in the first part, whereas according to Weiler, a more salient issue exists: the “political deficit”. [...]

[...] One good illustration of a way to bring the EU closer to citizens is the sentences written on the opening pages of the portal of the EU, such as: you know that the EU has helped more than 2 million young people to study in another country?”[40]. Indeed, such concrete facts show perfectly well to which extent the EU is improving our lives, behind the mysterious and opaque appearance of a bureaucratic organization. Bibliography Books Andersen S. and Eliassen K.A. The European Union: How democratic is it ? (Sage, 1996) Banchoff T., Smith M.P. Legitimacy and the European Union, (Routldege, 1999) Weiler J.H.H. European Democracy and Its Critics : Polity and System, in Weiler J.H.H., The Constitution of Europe, (Cambridge, 1999), pp. [...]

[...] Is the “democratic deficit” of the European Union a political or institutional problem? one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time; but there is the broad feeling in our country that the people should rule, continuously rule”. When the famous British politician W. Churchill made this speech, he pointed out two of the main characteristics of democracy. [...]