Chapter

How Democratic Is the EU?

January 2012

DOI:10.1007/978-1-137-00616-5_5

In book: Key Controversies in European Integration (pp.63-78)

Authors:

Richard Bellamy

European University Institute

Editorial: European Democracy in 2019

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2019

Christopher Huggins

This special section examines the theme on democracy in Europe. In this preface, the section editor, Christopher Huggins, briefly introduces the contributions and places them in the context of debate surrounding contemporary European democracy.

ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.

Article

The European Parliament: from the Direct Universal Suffrage to the Draft Treaty Establishing the Eur...

January 2012 · Izvestiya of Saratov University History International Relations

M. A. Gusakova

The article discusses the process of the European Parliament’s empowerment and strengthening its role in the system of the European institutions. Introducing of direct universal suffrage to the European Parliament gave the strongest impetus to this process, guaranteeing its transformation into real democratic institution. The key role in the process of the Parliament’s strengthening played its ... [Show full abstract] member – Altiero Spinelli who drafted the Treaty establishing the European Union in 1984.

Article

The German Länder in the Process of European Integration between Föderalismusreform and Reform Treat...

November 2008 · European Public Law

Carlo Panara

The recent reform of the German federal system in 2006 and the ongoing reform of the EU both arouse a new interest in the rights of the German Länder in EU decision–making. The article addresses four issues. First, how the transfer of powers of the Länder to the EU takes place. Second, the forms of direct and indirect participation of the Länder in EU decision–making. Third, the judicial defence ... [Show full abstract] of the Länder competences at both national and European level against invasions by the European Community (EC).Finally, the fulfilment of EU obligations in the internal sphere. It is submitted that a relevant loss of competences by the Länder is unavoidable in the context of the European integration, whose focus is on the Member States. Such a loss of competences cannot be fully compensated by the participation rights conferred on the Länder . Nonetheless,such participation rights are to be regarded as an essential element in order to remedy the EU democratic deficit and to preserve the federal structure of Germany.

Article

Full-text available

Explaining the European Parliament's Gains in the EU Constitution

May 2007 · The Review of International Organizations

The Constitutional Treaty, like each set of reforms since the Single European Act, would constitute another incremental increase in the European Parliament’s powers. But the Parliament did not get everything it wanted. What we do in this paper is investigate why the European Parliament tends to ‘win’ in some areas but not in others. We consider five possible explanations and test these theories ... [Show full abstract] by looking at the issues the Parliament promoted in the constitutional negotiations and the factors that determined whether the Parliament was successful or not in a particular area. We find that the Parliament gains power in areas where the governments delegate new powers to the EU and are uncertain about the consequences of this delegation. We also find that public support for the Parliament played a role in the extension of the Parliament’s powers in the Constitution.

View full-text

Article

Full-text available

From Democratic Government to Participatory Governance

January 2002

In July 2001 the EU Commission (200la) launched its long-announced White Paper on Governance. By that time, the conference where drafts of the contributions to this volume have first been presented had passed for almost one year. While discussing in Florence, we hardly had an idea about the salience the governance topic would have assumed only a couple of months later. Until then, it had mainly ... [Show full abstract] occupied the research agendas of a handful of political scientists in only some of the member states of the Union. Our project, indeed, was only in part related to the Commission’s initiative. The timing of this book, hence, is a mere coincidence. Whether it represents a more or less happy one has to be judged by the reader. Now, after the White Paper being published and after the rather unexpected noise it has triggered in and outside Brussels, it seems clear that, incidentally, we have caught the right moment with this present publication.

View full-text

Article

NATO – RUSSIA CRISIS OF 2022. TAKING LESSONS FROM THE PREVIOUS CRISIS

December 2022 · INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERINCE STRATEGIESXXI

In this article we are placing an analysis of the current crisis that erupted at the Russian-Ukrainian border. The main purpose is to identify possible hidden causes that could influence evolution. For this purpose, we have developed a comparative analysis of the current situation, taking attention to the similarities with the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Next, using the hypothetical-deductive ... [Show full abstract] analysis, we will highlight what could be the major objectives of the big actors involved and what could be the big dilemmas they are facing in decision making. At the end of the paper, we will submit the conclusions by following the analyzes that we have proposed. The motivation for choosing this topic is to understand the future of the crisis and to focus on the crisis in the interests of the EU and NATO in general, and especially in Romania. The novelty of the research lies in comparing the evolution of the actual state of the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border, with the one of 1962, when the tensions between NATO and the former Warsaw Treaty Organization reached their peak, as well as from the analysis based on the fundamental differences between the democratic regimes and the totalitarian ones, focused on identifying the objectives of great importance that each of the parties wants to achieve.

Chapter

Politicians as Patrons for E-Democracy? Closing the Gap Between Ideals and Realities

January 2008

Throughout the world, democratic countries, whether old, new, or in transition, are facing innovations in communications and information technology. Especially within developed economies, the challenge toward e-democracy through the digital transformation of democratic institutions has become increasingly evident. With the identification of the notion of the “middleman paradox,” recent research ... [Show full abstract] findings have added a new dimension to existing theories on the hesitant evolution of e-democracy, which clearly identifies politicians as an inhibiting factor. Consequently, the research in this paper attempts to explore further this newly discovered phenomenon by presenting theoretical and empirical evidence. The findings of a multiple case study carried out in all 25 EU member countries, based on an adopted exploratory research design, are presented. These findings give more detailed insights on the nature of the middleman paradox and on the ambiguous role of politicians in the further evolution of e-democracy.

Article

Konstitucionalizacija Europske unije između demokratskog deficita i načela supsidijarnostiConstituti...

December 2024 · Suvremene teme

U radu se istražuje kratka povijesna genealogija političkog sustavaEuropske unije u pogledu analize razvoja sustava kvazi-konfederacijei međudržavne suradnje, koja, nakon neuspjele konstitucionalizacijei trenutačnoga stanja osnivačkih ugovora, u velikoj mjeri ovisi oključnim akterima na međuvladinoj razini. Budući da je asimetrični ispecifični politički sustav Europske unije sačinjen od brojnih ... [Show full abstract] državnih inedržavnih aktera, te da u njemu tijekom povijesne institucionalizacijeprevladava dinamika, koja je rezultat višestrukih kompromisa, radnastoji pokazati kako se i u kojoj mjeri ovaj sustav konsolidirao te kojusnagu ima, ne samo na planu razvoja vlastitih političkih institucija,nego i u međunarodnim odnosima. Pri tome se osobito ističe daje rezultat razvoja Europske unije iz poslijelisabonskog razdoblja,iako obilježen brojnim ekonomskim, migrantskim, zdravstvenim isigurnosnim krizama, u velikoj mjeri rezultat duge tradicije političkognačela supsidijarnosti, odustajanja od federalizacije i želje da se stvorikompromisni akefalni i polikefalni politički sustav.

Chapter

1. Union Institutions

July 2020

Robert Schuetze

This chapter discusses the four major European Union institutions: the European Parliament, the European Council, the European Commission, and the European Court. The provisions dealing with the EU institutions are split between the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Directly elected by the European citizens, the Parliament constitutes ... [Show full abstract] not only the most democratic institution; it is also the most supranational institution of the EU. Ultimately, each of the EU institutions is characterized by its distinct composition and its decision-making mode. Importantly, the EU is not based on a strict separation of functions between its institutions but follows a ‘checks and balances’ version of the separation-of-powers principle. This means that various EU institutions share in the exercise of various governmental functions.

Article

Full-text available

Responsibility under Pressure: Public Accountability during the Czech Republic's Accession to the Eu...

April 2006 · Czech Sociological Review

Tereza Pospíšilová

The aim of the article is to examine how a key principle of democratic government, public accountability, was applied during the process of the Czech Republic's accession to the European Union. The author analyses official documents and the public discourse in newspaper articles from the period between 1998 and 2000. She shows that the mechanism of accountability, which the European Commission ... [Show full abstract] introduced into the Czech political scene, was connected with the way in which the accession process was conceptualised as a set of technical tasks. She therefore argues that the European Commission introduced the 'technical' framework of the accession process, and she examines how this definitional framework was reflected in the public discourse. During the period under observation this framework was very influential; the Czech political scene also played a part in maintaining it and knew how to make strategic use of it. While the European Commission did contribute to establishing public accountability in the accession process, this accountability was only 'public' in the sense of its publicity, as the public at no point played a role in defining this framework. Although such discourse was specific to the period before the Czech Republic became a member of the EU, its general features are by no means a thing of the past. The conversion of political decisions into a 'technical' framework continues to be an effective means of dealing with complex social processes.

View full-text

Article

Delegated and Implementing Rule Making: Proceduralisation and Constitutional Design

January 2013 · European Law Journal

Joana Mendes

The reform of non‐legislative acts introduced by Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union was guided by concerns regarding the democratic legitimacy of implementing acts of the Union. However, it has ignored the centrality of transparency in the Union's democracy and the role of participation as a complementary source of democracy. This article argues that the ... [Show full abstract] procedures leading to the adoption of delegated and implementing acts are subject to the treaties' provisions on transparency and participation, and should be shaped by them. It analyses the constitutional choices underlying Articles 290 and 291, with a view to assessing whether and to what extent the material, organic and functional profiles of delegated and implementing acts condition procedural rules on transparency and participation to be followed in their adoption.

Article

Anti-immigrant far-right parties in the Visegrad countries: representation, political success and id...

January 2014 · Studium Europy Środkowej i Wschodniej

Aneta Moszczyńska

The article is devoted to theoretical and methodological analysis of the “dilemma of simultaneity” as the conceptual predictor of post-communist Europe modernization’s logistics. It was determined that the initial premise to overcome the “dilemma of simultaneity” was political modernization or democratization of post-communist countries of Europe and that in some countries modernization was ... [Show full abstract] realized in three areas, and in some other countries in four areas (i.e. in the form of a “triple” or “quadruple” transition). The author argued that the “dilemma of simultaneity” as a proper and on time logistics model of post-communist transformation and modernization in various European countries is not fully methodologically unified. It was also revealed that initially the “dilemma of simultaneity” was a dichotomy (in political and economic areas), but later became a trichotomy (including issues of territorial and national restructuring). In addition, initially the “dilemma of simultaneity” had negative direction, but nowadays is a positivist value. At the same time, it was argued that overcoming the “dilemma of simultaneity” is an overcome and turning such results of institutional development of post-communist European countries as modernity, statehood and prospects of the EU membership.

Article

Science, security and spies

December 2009 · European Security

Björn Hagelin

The national research and development (R&D) base has in the post-cold war era gained increased importance in order to fill new security demands. There is a broadening of the search for security relevant science and technology involving more organizations and interests, scientific disciplines and nations. The question discussed in this article is if the premises of international, free and open R&D ... [Show full abstract] will be(come) compromised? Will we see more scientists, in their normal scientific activities, being accused of spying? The article suggests that such risks are not unrealistic to expect. Spy cases in less democratic countries could have consequences for scientists also in other countries. Outcomes depend on, among other things, the relative strengths of academic freedom and a political Identification Friend and Foe (IFF) component. United Nations and European Union resolutions restricting science education for students from Iran and North Korea in an attempt to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons illustrate a strong IFF component. Difficulties with regard to the implementation of these resolutions and other findings are presented in the final section of the article.

How Democratic Is the EU?

No full-text available

Recommended publications

The European Parliament: from the Direct Universal Suffrage to the Draft Treaty Establishing the Eur...

The German Länder in the Process of European Integration between Föderalismusreform and Reform Treat...

Explaining the European Parliament's Gains in the EU Constitution

From Democratic Government to Participatory Governance

NATO – RUSSIA CRISIS OF 2022. TAKING LESSONS FROM THE PREVIOUS CRISIS

Politicians as Patrons for E-Democracy? Closing the Gap Between Ideals and Realities

Konstitucionalizacija Europske unije između demokratskog deficita i načela supsidijarnostiConstituti...

1. Union Institutions

Responsibility under Pressure: Public Accountability during the Czech Republic's Accession to the Eu...

Delegated and Implementing Rule Making: Proceduralisation and Constitutional Design

Anti-immigrant far-right parties in the Visegrad countries: representation, political success and id...

Science, security and spies