EU Democratic Deficit and the Civil Society: A Theoretical Perspective on European Democracy
Mihai Dinescu
EU democratic deficit and the civil society. A theoretical perspective on European democracyThe European Union has long been trying to find a remedy for its so-called ‘democratic deficit’. In the absence of other means for a direct relation with the citizens, as only the Eu- ropean Parliament is elected by all European citizens, the European Commission assumed its role of the ‘guardian of the Treaties’ and implemented a greater openness towards civil society in the early 2000s in compliance with the values of democracy in Europe. In this context, I propose a closer look at the origins of EU’s democratic deficit and, more broadly, at the current status of democracy in the European Union mostly based on a historical comparative analysis between the birth of the EU and the classical model of American federalism as the most appropriate state model for a broad representation of interests.
Moreover, the very nature of the most influential political regime during the initial stages of the European integration process – France’s Fifth Republic – contained elements that were bound to sooner or later lead to a crisis of democratic representation and legitimacy, and subsequently to a crisis of liberal thought. In the long term, Europe needs to address this issue through an authentic constitutional debate in order to reflect the Europeans’ wish on how this project shall develop in the future, although nobody ever asked them about it before.
