Does interest representation enhance or undermine democracy in the European Union?

Résumé du document

The democratic legitimacy of the European Union has long been questioned and debated upon. In this essay we will consider the role of interest representation and discuss whether or not it aids or demoralizes the ideals of democracy. In order to fully investigate this question we will first need to understand the concept of 'democracy' in the European Union, touch on the well known arguments denouncing the claims of European democracy and also comprehend what is meant by interest representation. We will then look at how interest representation in the EU functions and analyze the after effects that it has on democracies in the EU. An important point of discussion will be analyzing where interest representation is focused and if it can alleviate the so called democratic deficit created by some of the EU's main institutional bodies. This democratic deficit charges the European Union with a lack of democratic legitimacy, by stating that the institutions which wield power (mainly the Commission and the Councils) are unelected bodies, and thus their formation results in power that has no legitimate source. We will also determine if interest representation can counterbalance these claims.

Extraits

[...] The reasons for this are that MEP's are elected on national issues, not European ones, so are not genuine representatives at a European level and on top of this they are elected with embarrassingly low turnouts (e.g. in the UK in 1999 turnout was 24% and in 2004 it was 39% - less than half)8. As a direct consequence of this, the European Parliament actually does necessitate interest representation to balance out the loss of democracy suffered through its elections. [...]

[...] So, from this evidence, interest representation can be said to enhance democracy in the EU just by its attempt to distribute information from the EU to its citizens. On top of this, interest representation groups aim (as their name implies) to represent the interests of a certain group or groups of people. This process seemingly enhances democracy in the EU, but on a closer inspection, things are not so cut and dry, as we will see. How, then, do interest representation groups lobby in the European Union? Where do they focus their attention? Is this process of lobbying depleting democracy or helping it to flourish? [...]

[...] Does interest representation enhance or undermine democracy in the European Union? The democratic legitimacy of the European Union has long been questioned and debated in this essay we will consider the role of interest representation and whether or not it aids or demoralises the ideals of democracy. In order to investigate this question we will firstly need to understand the concept of 'democracy' in the European Union, touch on the well known arguments denouncing the claims of European democracy and also comprehend what is meant by interest representation. [...]

[...] Increasingly, interest representation groups have been focusing their attention on the EP, through, for example, personal lobbying of MEP's, especially those on important committees. This attention has sound reasoning the interest representation groups have a desire to sway the power sources of the European Union into their groups' favour, but despite the increased participation that this may bring, in this particular case the process of interest representation can be argued as undermining democracy. The EP is in fact the only directly elected power base in the EU it has accountability, legitimacy, transparency and leads to political participation and education as much as it can (for example plenary sessions are televised). [...]

[...] We will also aim to find out if interest representation can counterbalance these claims. In this essay we will consider democracy in the EU as 'rule by the people' (because of the sheer size of populations, this can be defined as 'rule by their representatives'). Within this definition of democracy, we take for granted that representatives should be elected “Elections lie at the heart of the democratic process”1. Political participation and political education are also important factors for democracy - other requirements for democracy are accountability and transparency. [...]