DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

Democratic deficit and the European Union



Democratic deficit and the European Union



Introduction

The new European Council has worked well with the Commission and the member states in responding to the financial crisis, though no fundamental solution is in sight. The European Parliament has used its increased powers to influence EU policy-making, but its efforts to raise the EU 2011 budget and secure greater influence in fiscal policy have been thwarted by some member states. For this purpose the Lisbon Treaty was established, one of the major aims of the Lisbon Treaty, as set out explicitly in its very short Preamble, is to enhance the democratic legitimacy of the Union. This has been a leitmotiv since the 1993 Maastricht no. 13, the 1997 Amsterdam Protocol no. 9 on the role of national parliaments in the EU, the 2000 Nice Declaration which stressed the importance of giving a role to national parliaments, and the 2001 Declaration of Laeken, which insisted on the democratic challenge facing Europe.

Discussion

After a decade of negotiations, EU leaders celebrated when the treaty finally came into effect. The widespread assumption was that the EU could focus on implementing the treaty; further institutional reform was a distant prospect. However, the Greek and Irish bailouts have accelerated the reform timetable more than had been expected.

Germany has demanded changes to the treaty that would provide a legal basis for a permanent European Financial Stability Fund, as the existing mechanism expires in 2013. Berlin would also tighten fiscal discipline rules for euro-area members. While most member states strongly oppose any treaty amendments, Germany has convinced opponents that reform is necessary in order to prevent the German Constitutional Court from declaring that Germany's participation in a permanent EU bailout fund is unconstitutional. (Aalto, 2006)

After several countries rejected earlier versions in referenda in the ten years leading up to the signing of the treaty, many EU leaders do not welcome the prospect of reopening it. However, the treaty includes a 'simplified revision procedure' that allows member states to revise it without convening a lengthy intergovernmental conference, as long as the revision focuses on substantive EU internal policies and does not extend EU competencies. The key question, for Germany as well as the other member states, is whether a permanent bailout fund qualifies as an extension of EU competencies. (Agnew, 2005) If so, an intergovernmental conference would have to be convened, and some member states, such as the Netherlands, Ireland and the United Kingdom, would have to hold referenda on whether to approve a permanent bailout mechanism. Avoiding this scenario will be the central aim of any effort to reform the treaty in 2011.

For the first time, the Lisbon Treaty incorporates in the basic Treaties, right at the beginning of the TEU, a section entitled Provisions on democratic principles. Moreover, and more concretely, the Lisbon Treaty brings a whole set of new provisions aiming at enhancing the democratic legitimacy of the Union, among which the more important aim at strengthening ...