Democratic deficit

(Photo: Notat)

Both Federalists and Euro-sceptics criticise the current EU for its democratic deficit. But they disagree on the solutions.

The democratic deficit arises when decisions are moved from the national Parliaments, and the electorates in the Member States, to Brussels. In Brussels most decisions are taken by civil servants behind closed doors and laws are made via agreements between all Member States (supra-nationally). It is therefore impossible for a country on its own to make or change an EU law.
This means that what citizens vote for and influence at a national level has no guaranteed effect upon what occurs at the EU level. The vote and influence of citizens are devalued at national level without any compensating improvement at EU level.

Notes

• Federalists want to get rid of the democratic deficit by establishing a genuine EU parliamentary democracy where laws will be made by the EU Parliament rather than by the state representatives in the Council of Ministers.
• Euro-sceptics and Euro-realists want EU rules controlled by the electorates and the national parliaments in the Member States and the Commission changed into a secretariat for the national parliaments where each parliament appoints its own representative.