Democratic Deficit In The EU Essay Research

Democratic Deficit In The EU Essay, Research Paper

The European

Union continues to play an important role in traditionally domestic areas of

policy, but many people however see the union as distant, and believe they have

extremely little involvement and influence. The only body over which they have

any control, the European Parliament, is by far the weakest, and important

decisions are seen as being taken behind ‘closed doors’. This lack of public

accountability in the European Union is known as the ‘Democratic Deficit.’ The

term, ‘Democratic Deficit’ refers to, "The growing gap between the

power and authority of EU institutions"[i].

As more aspects of national sovereignty are transferred to the European level,

the ability of citizens to influence and supervise this new power base has

declined significantly. Politicians began to take the issue of the democratic

deficit seriously from 1992, when Danish voters failed to ratify ‘The Treaty on

European Union’; Leaders could no longer afford to continue to appear

unaccountable.The question of

the democratic deficit involves not just a discussion of the role of the

European Parliament, but also an examination of the roles of other

institutions, and especially the need to look at the way in which these

institutions relate to each other. The main emphasis lies with the three main

"institutions" of the European Union – the Commission, the European

Council and Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.It is the

connection between the European Union.s institutions where the .democratic

deficit. has gained the most publicity..

The erosion of the national governments, over policy areas, has been the

result of the quickening of European integration.. Continual amendments to the institutions powers have meant that

areas were national governments used to govern have now been transferred to the

European Union.. Relatively

unaccountable institutions have taken over responsibility from the accountable

national governments of the member states. . The

European Commission is perhaps the epitome of this. With members, made up of

largely, of old white males, un-elected, appointed by national governments this

institution is anything but democratic. Yet it wields an increasing amount of

power in the European Union of today. It has the exclusive, and jealously

guarded, right to initiate legislation. It implements community policy, manages

the European Union.s budget, conducts external relations on behalf of the

European Union member states and is widely regarded as the "guardian"

of the euro-federal ideal. Dinan describes it as a "strategic authority

established by the founding fathers to .guarantee continuity of the integration

project despite the political or geopolitical hazards..[ii]. The

Commission, which has the substantial power and responsibility of proposing and

forming laws, is, according to McCormick, "Appointed, without reference

to the people.[iii].. This mighty body has a President appointed "as

a result of a strange and informal little power dance among the leaders of the

member states.[iv] The

Commission has no mandate whatsoever from the people, European voters do not

elect their commissioners, member governments appoint whomever they wish. The

cynical would perhaps suggest that these people are not always the most

appropriate, but those who national governments want out of domestic politics.

Those below the ‘College of Commissioners’, the ‘Directorates General’, have

the power of implementation over dozens of policy areas, yet these powerful

people are virtually unknown to the public, and are not held accountable by

them. The Parliament also lacks the legal authority to hold the Commission

accountable for its actions; it does have the theoretical power to dismiss the

entire College of Commissioners, but in reality, it would never do that because

chaos would ensue. Parliament, although slowly growing in influence, is almost

a token body, with which the union could function without. The true powers lie

mainly with the Commission and Council of Ministers.In

1974, Valerie Giscard d.Estaing, the French President, famously declared,

"the European Summit is dead – long live the European Council". Just

as the European Commission can be viewed as the manifestation of

euro-supranationalism, the European Council can be seen as the epitome of the

intergovernmental ideal. Basically the Council consists of the leaders and

foreign ministers of the nation-states of the European Union together with the

Commission president and a vice-president. Each nation of the European Union

takes it in turn to control the presidency of the council for a six-month

period, often providing valuable political benefits to the national government

on the hosting back home

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