Democratic legitimacy of the European Union

The European Union (EU) is a group of countries that work together to make rules and help each other. Some people wonder if the way the EU is run is fair to everyone.

An elected European Parliament was created in 1979 to help make decisions about EU laws.

People sometimes talk about whether the EU is truly fair. One concern is that not many people vote in European Parliament elections. In 2014, only about 43% of people voted.

Some experts say the EU is fair because each country’s government helps make decisions. Others think the EU should change to be more answerable to the people.

Use and meaning of the term

The idea of a "democratic deficit" started in 1977 by the Young European Federalists. It described a feeling that ordinary people did not have enough say in how the European Economic Community, which later became the European Union, was run.

People have talked about several reasons for this. They say some leaders have too much power without enough checks from elected groups. They also say elections for important EU jobs can be hard for citizens to understand. They point out that decision-making can be very complicated, making it hard to know who is really responsible. Because of these issues, some believe there is a gap between what people expect from a democracy and how the European Union works today.

Types of Democratic Legitimacy

Academics have ways to explain how the European Union can be seen as democratic, even beyond just elections. Vivien A. Schmitt (2013) talks about three areas of legitimacy: Input (how people take part), output (how well policies work for people), and throughput (how clear and open the government is).

Input legitimacy is about people agreeing to the EU through elections and taking part. Some say the EU has weaker input legitimacy because not many people vote in European Parliament elections, and voters often think more about their country than the EU when they vote. Output legitimacy is about making good policies that help people, like the single market, protecting the environment, and consumer rights. Throughput legitimacy is about how well the government works, like being clear and responsible. Some believe the EU can be legitimate because its output and throughput are strong, even if input is weaker. But others say real democratic participation can’t be replaced by good policies.

European Commission

One concern about democratic legitimacy is that the European Commission, which is not elected, is the only group that can start new laws. This has been questioned, with some comparing it to national governments where few ideas from individual members become law. The Commission changes every five years. Members are chosen by their countries and approved by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament. If Parliament votes to disapprove, the Commission must leave. This has happened eight times but never succeeded.

To try to make things more democratic, the Treaty of Lisbon said the President of the European Commission should think about the results of European Parliament elections. But this has also been questioned because the EU is not a country, and the Commission must act fairly for everyone. In 2019, the European Council chose Ursula von der Leyen as Commission president even though she wasn’t the top candidate from the elections. This showed that member states still have control over important choices.

European Parliament

Another concern is that the European Parliament doesn’t decide the main direction of EU laws, because the European Commission starts most new laws. Article 225, from the Lisbon Treaty, let Parliament ask for new ideas, but the Commission doesn’t have to agree and only needs to explain if it says no.

Some experts say the European Parliament is actually strong, like the US House of Representatives. They say it’s different from national parliaments because of how committees work, voting, and how parties act. In 2003, a member of the European Parliament said he had more influence there than in his country’s parliament.

European elections

Main article: Elections to the European Parliament

Some say low voting in European elections weakens the Parliament’s legitimacy. In 2019, over 50% of EU citizens voted, the first time it passed 50% since 1994. But voting was still low in some countries, like Croatia and Slovenia.

Some say people don’t understand EU politics well, which affects voting. Others point out that voting in 1999 for the European Parliament was higher than in the last US presidential election.

Second Order Elections and Legitimacy

People often see European Parliament elections as less important than national ones. Voters use these elections to show how they feel about their national government instead of EU policies. This makes it hard to say the European Parliament truly represents people’s wishes for EU governance.

Council of the European Union

The Council usually votes on laws by qualified majority voting, meaning most of the time national governments vote yes. For example, in 2006, the UK government voted for 84 out of 86 laws, abstained twice, and never voted against.

Presidency

The European Parliament has questioned Hungary holding the rotating presidency of the Council in 2023.

Development of democratic legitimacy and transparency

Over time, changes have been made to help the European Union work in a fair and open way for everyone.

The Maastricht Treaty brought new ideas. It let people vote in European Parliament elections no matter where they live in the EU. It also gave the European Parliament equal power with the Council of the European Union when making laws.

Later, the Treaty of Lisbon made more changes. It said the EU should work based on representative democracy, meaning people have a say through their votes. The European Parliament got more powers, like helping decide the EU budget and choosing the leader of the European Commission. People can send requests to the European Parliament about issues that affect them. Meetings where laws are discussed are open to the public and can be watched online. National governments also have a bigger role in EU decisions. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union was given full legal power, protecting important rights for all Europeans. This charter was announced by the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission in 2000.

Political philosophy of the European Union

The European Union says its important values are human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and human rights. Democracy has always been a key part of the European Union. Countries wanting to join the EU must follow these democratic rules. For example, when Turkey asked to join, the EU had concerns about democracy there. Even inside the EU, people sometimes disagree about what democracy means, which has led some to wonder how democratic the EU really is.