Democratic Deficit in the Eu

2947 words 12 pages
Show More
Does the EU suffer from a democratic deficit? If so, can it be solved by conferring greater powers on the European parliament?
-------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------

The ‘standard version’ of the democratic deficit formulated by Weiler, consisting of the increased role of the executive Commission in matters of legislation, the weakness of the European Parliament (hereafter the EP), the lack of ‘European’ elections, EU distance to public scrutiny and voters, and finally ‘policy drifting’ by the executive non-compliant to voter interests, has and continues to be a major target of criticism within the field of European Union (the EU) law. The matter is of utmost importance …show more content…
However, this argument is practically flawed as Commission officials are somewhat isolated from their national parliaments than domestic ministers making policy, not to mention the electorate back home. They effectively ignore their parent parliament when deliberating in Brussels as the level of control is distant and officially suffer no consequence for it at the ballot box. Chalmers, going further, identifies Commissioners as lobbyists acting to realise client interests and consequently working independently of national governments. With regard to the Commission’s purpose, it functions as a supranational institution to represent the overall ‘European good’ and not exclusively those of a MS. A relationship gap is consequently assumed. Doubts are furthered on democracy from an institutional perspective, with direct implications on law-making.

Alongside the Commission’s disproportionate involvement in the law-making process at the expense of the EP, it is imperative to examine the role of the EP itself and Council of Ministers that constitute the rest of the three-fold process. Although EP powers have strengthened under Lisbon, it remains the weakest of the three institutions despite being the only directly elected EU institution. Lisbon remedied this in granting the EP further legislative powers and supervisory power over the Commission. The OLP does allow the EP to

Related

  • Democratic Governance
    1283 words | 6 pages

    Democratic Governance Authored by Md. Alam, Walden University Overview The study of democratic governance is an effort to make a module on “Theories of Democratic Governance and Research". For this study, one of the most popular topics “Democracy” discussed and analyzed from the point of theoretical aspect, contemporary research, and application aspect. Objectives This Knowledge Area Module (KAM) looks at democratic governance. This breadth component begins by discussing the theoretical….

    Show More
  • Democratic Peace Theory
    3046 words | 13 pages

    ‘On Perpetual Peace’, however, only in the early 1980s and with the writings of Michael Doyle was the idea consolidated. According to Doyle and other advocates of the democratic peace theory, liberal democratic states have been able to maintain peaceful relations amongst themselves, but are prone to wage war against non-democratic regimes. In order to prove this theory, vast databases have been constructed of historical dyadic relationships between states as well as detailed breakdowns of incidents….

    Show More
  • Strategic Management - Eu Yan Sang Case Study
    8313 words | 34 pages

    SITUATION 6 3.1. Past Performance Assessment 6 4. EXTERNAL ANALYSIS 7 4.1. Political 7 4.2. Economic 8 4.3. Social 8 4.4. Technological 8 4.5. Legal 9 4.6. Environmental 9 4.7. Conclusion of PESTLE Analysis 10 5. INTERNAL ANALYSIS 10 5.1. SWOT Anal ysis on Eu Yan Sang 10 5.2. Conclusion of SWOT Analysis 11 6. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS 13 6.1. Key Success Factors 13 6.2. Michael Porter’s Generic and 5 Forces Analysis 15 6.3. Michael Porter’s 5 Forces Analysis 15 6.4. Implications of Assessment (Issues) 17 7. OBJECTIVES….

    Show More
  • Supremacy of Eu Law
    1930 words | 8 pages

    Where it is contained: Historically the EEC treaty contained no provision dealing with the concept of supremacy of Community law over the national law of member states. In fact, treaties were generally silent as to the nature of the relationship between EU law and national law except for a general obligation contained in article 4 (3) TEU which states:- “‘Pursuant to the principle of sincere cooperation, the Union and the Member States shall, in full mutual respect, assist each other in carrying out tasks….

    Show More
  • To What Extent Is There a Democratic Deficit in the Uk?
    1218 words | 5 pages

    Government & Politics Essay To what extent is there a democratic deficit in the UK? There is an argument that the government has the power and right to change laws and represent people without necessarily having to be elected. This can also be known as ‘Democratic deficit’. An example of democratic deficit is the House of Lords. The members in the House of Lords aren’t….

    Show More
  • Social Democracy and Democratic Socialism
    1112 words | 5 pages

    ‘An ideological battle between social democracy and democratic socialism.’ Discuss with reference to the policies and programs pursued by the Labour Party. Democratic socialism was popular in the first half of the 20th century and proposed that socialism could be achieved through peaceful, parliamentary means; like the ballot box. It puts emphasis on the promotion of working class and collective movements like the trade unions. Democratic socialism also believes in state ownership, an extensive….

    Show More
  • Evaluate the case for cutting public expenditure rather than raising taxes as a means of reducing fiscal deficits.
    871 words | 4 pages

    for cutting public expenditure rather than raising taxes as a means of reducing fiscal deficits. [30] A fiscal deficit is when a government's total expenditures exceed the tax revenues that it generates. A budget deficit can be cut by either reducing public expenditure or raising taxes. In this essay, I am going to analyse the benefits and costs of increasing tax rates to reduce fiscal deficits instead of cutting government expenditure. First of all, if the government decides….

    Show More
  • Influence of the Eu on Democracy in the Uk
    884 words | 4 pages

    Influence of the EU on Democracy in the UK One of the objectives of the creation of the European Union was to develop a single market and remove trading barriers so there would be standardisation of technical regulations and convergence of conditions between European markets. With this in mind, it saw the need for employers and employees to work together in order to achieve this. The main statement of the European social policy is the Social Charter (approved by 11 of the then 12 member states)….

    Show More
  • Religious Challenges to Constructing a Democratic Iraq
    3439 words | 14 pages

    Religious Challenges to Constructing a Democratic Iraq Table of Contents Abstract 3 The challenge of establishing a democracy in Iraq 3 History of Iraq 3 History of Islam 4 Tenets of Islam 6 History of democracy 7 Christianity and democracy 8 Tenets of democracy 9 Islamic thought vs. the keystones of a democracy 10 Can democracy take hold in an Islamic Iraq? 10 Conclusion 11 References 13 Abstract Islam….

    Show More
  • Case Study: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
    1567 words | 7 pages

    Running Head: ADHD Case Study: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder University Of Phoenix Major Symptoms Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has 3 types of symptoms: problems with attention, hyperactive behavior, and excessive impulsivity (Kohn). ADHD is heritable (Kohn). The child is better able to cope with rapidly changing stimuli, but will have more difficulty focusing on things that are less interesting (Kohn). The brain is less able to focus on uninteresting….

    Show More

Popular Essays