International Institutions - The EU and Democratic Deficit

Christophe Crombez - 'The Democratic Deficit in the European Union' Intake of new members complicated policy-making Tightening of the qualified majority requirements in the Council and the increases in the numbers of Commissioners and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) may reduce effectiveness Larger relative weight of smaller countries in the Commission may lead to a decline in democratic legitimacy EU institutions suffering from a 'democratic deficit', a lack of democratic accountability Jean-Luc Dehaene (former Belgian PM) - "It is a fact that the institutional structure of the Union has, in recent years, shown signs of strain" Concept of 'democratic deficit' is not clearly defined by many who write about it EU Parliament - only directly elected segment WHAT IS A DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT? Two distinct approaches; 1). output of political processes - the legislation and regulations that emerge from it, 2). whether the voters get what they want - whether their policy preferences are reflected in the output Trade-off in democratic systems between giving the majority its way and protecting the rights of minorities Distance between the median voter and the outcome of a political process can be considered a reasonably good measure of the democratic deficit of the process The political process needs to be transparent and it should not involve too many steps of delegation - because delegation introduces noise For the public to have an opinion on issues being discussed, it need to know what goes on in the political process, which requires transparency of the process EU does not function well as a democracy because there is no European public opinion, no European electorate Sanchez-Cuenca (2000) - popular support for the EU can be enhanced by the efficient functioning of its institutions Distance between EU policy and the median voter's ideal policy as a measure of the democratic deficit IS THERE A 'DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT' IN THE EU? Three institutions involved in the legislative process - Upper house (the Council), which represents different states the form the union, Lower House (the Parliament), which represents the people, and the Executive (the Commission), which is a body that is directly elected or appointed by the Upper/Lower house The executive proposes a policy > the upper and lower houses can amend the proposal > the upper and lower houses vote on the amended proposal EU members directly elect the Parliament, and the member countries are represented in the Council QMV consists of 255/345 votes and a majority of the member countries, representing at least 62% of the EU population The allocation of seats across member countries, results in undemocratic policies If the EU institutions were all directly elected by EU voters and each vote had equal weight, the ideal policies could be expected to be close to the EU median voter Only the Parliament is directly elected, and its elections are often fought on national issues - smaller countries overrepresented in it MEPs of smaller countries represent fewer votes than a majority consisting of MEPs of larger countries QMV rule makes it harder for the smaller countries to form a coalition and pass legislation Countries representing at least 58% of EU voters need to support a proposal for adoption WHAT CAN BE DONE? The institutional setup of the EU is not fundamentally undemocratic - it can function democratically Euro-sceptics want to concentrate powers in the hands of the nation-states and thus want the Council to play a more important role Euro-federalists want a more important role for the Parliament At each major round of institutional reforms, the debate has resurfaced The problem of the democratic deficit may rest on a lack of information and an excess of delegation - EU could enhance its democratic legitimacy by improving the functioning of its institutions Open Council meetings could contribute to a better understanding of the legislative process and allow voters to monitor it better Direct election of the Commission president, and the appointment of the Commission by the Parliament