Towards a more democratic EU?

Prof. dr Miodrag Jovanovic

EU as a sui generis polity

EU is not, and probably will not become a state Yet, “the EU is a political system in its own right,

or at least a ‘partial polity’.” (Beetham and Lord) It is “a polity without a state” (Brunkhorst) It is “a political system as it possesses all the

elements needed to be such a system: institutional stability and complexity; powers of government through which citizens and social groups seek to achieve their political desires; a significant impact on the distribution of economic resources and the allocation of social and political values; and a continuous interaction between political outputs, new demands on the system, and so on.” (Gerven)

Enhancing democracy and legitimacy of the EU

Art. 1 of the Lisbon Treaty: “This Treaty marks a new stage in the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen.”

What are the formal (institutional) and informal (societal) channels for the further enhancement of a more democratic and legitimate EU?

Democratization through Europeanization of political parties?

Art. 10(4): “Political parties at European level contribute to forming European political awareness and to expressing the will of citizens of the Union.”

A European political party (Europarty), is a political party organization operating transnationally in Europe and in the institutions of the European Union.

They are regulated and funded by the European Union and are primarily made up of national parties, but as of recently, they introduced individual membership. They have the exclusive right to campaign during the European elections.

European political parties are different from the Groups in the European Parliament; however, they are often affiliated with these Groups (which may be alliances of more than one European political party, or possibly alliances between parties and nominally independents). 

Chronology of Europarties

1992. Maastricht Treaty introduces the concept of a “political party at the European level”

1997. Amsterdam Treaty provided a mechanism whereby they could be paid for out of the European budget

2001. Nice Treaty stipulated that Europarty funding had to be regulated by the Council and the European Parliament, acting together

Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council defined a ‘political party at European level’ and specified that funding should not go to national parties, either directly or indirectly

Regulation (EC) No 1524/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council gives Europarties the exclusive responsibility to campaign for the European elections and to use their funds for this purpose

Criteria for the establishment of a Europarty legal personality in the Member State in which its seat is located;

observe the founding principles of the European Union (liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law);

it must have participated, or intend to participate, in elections to the European Parliament;

it must have in at least one quarter of the Member States, one or both of the following: a) either it must have received at least 3% of the votes cast in each of those Member States at the most recent European Parliament elections or b) it must already be represented by Members, whether Members of the European Parliament for those states, or Members of the national Parliaments of those states, or Members of the regional Parliaments of those states, or Members of the regional Assemblies of those states;

publish its revenue and expenditure and a statement of its assets and liabilities annually; provide a list of its donors and their donations exceeding €500; it must not accept: anonymous donations, donations exceeding €12,000 per year and per

donor, donations from the budgets of political groups of the European Parliament, more than 40% of a national political party's annual budget, donations from any company over which the public authorities may exercise a dominant influence, either by virtue of their ownership of it, or by their financial participation therein;

it must get at least 25% of its budget from sources other than its European Union funding;

it must submit its application by the 15 November before the financial year that it wants funding for.

Europarties in 2012 European People's Party (Christian democrats and conservatives 2004) Party of European Socialists (social democrats and democratic

socialists 2004) Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (liberals and

centrists 2004) European Green Party (greens 2004) Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (anti-federalist

centre-right 2010) Party of the European Left (socialists and communists 2004) European Democratic Party (centrists, European integrationists 2004) European Free Alliance (pro-devolution, independentist representing

national minorities 2004) EUDemocrats (Eurosceptics, generally left-of-centre 2006) European Christian Political Movement (socially-conservative Christian

democrats 2010) European Alliance for Freedom (eurosceptics, 2011) Movement for a Europe of Liberties and Democracy (national

conservatives and eurosceptics, 2012) Alliance of European National Movements (far-right nationalists and

eurosceptics, 2012)

Current deficits

At EU parliamentary elections, voters still vote for national parties, as members of Europarties;

National issues still dominate EU parliamentary elections;

Lack of a uniform electoral procedure for the EU parliament

Low turnout opens the room for the constant rise of right-wing parties

Turnout - EU and national parliament

Towards European public sphere?

Can there at all be a common Europe without a pan-European public sphere, where potentially common values and ideas can be formed and transnational political institutions can find their legitimacy?

A public sphere is “an intermediate sphere of public actions, affiliations, and relations beyond the state and the market, where citizens as relatively free and equal members of society and its polity use many, independent, and party rival associations and media to learn, discuss, organize collective action, and bargain, among other things, and where such practices of citizenship tend to protect and promote constitutional democracy under preconditions of maturity”

The Role of Media

Four ideal-types of transnational media can be distinguished: (1) national media with a transnational mission , (2) international media, (3) pan-regional media and (4) global media.

There are transnational media at the EU level, but with a highly limited influence.

Communicating Europe in Partnership(2009/C 13/02)

“The European Parliament, Council and the European Commission attach the utmost importance to improving communication on EU issues in order to enable European citizens to exercise their right to participate in the democratic life of the Union, in which decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizens, observing the principles of pluralism, participation, openness and transparency.” (par. 1)

“The three Institutions believe that information and communication activities on European issues should give everyone access to fair and diverse information about the European Union and enable citizens to exercise their right to express their views and to participate actively in the public debate on European Union issues.” (par. 4)

“The three Institutions promote the respect of multilingualism and cultural diversity when implementing information and communication actions.” (par. 5)

European Parliament resolution of 7 September 2010 on journalism and new media – creating a public sphere in Europe

EU Parliament4.  Notes that lack of online news and information on the EU and its

institutions is not the problem, which in fact lies in the availability of a wide range of information without any real order of priority, leading to a situation in which too much information kills information; notes that all the institutions have launched their own news platforms, which fail, however, to interest a broad section of the public because often they are not sufficiently clear, attractive or understandable, in many cases owing to the use of overly technical language that is very off-putting for people who are unfamiliar with European issues; takes the view that there should be an introductory portal to the platforms which clarifies the workings of all the EU institutions;

6.  Believes that, in order to be effective, communication must make it clear that political decisions taken at EU level are of direct relevance to the daily lives of EU citizens, who see the EU as still being too distant and having too little influence in terms of solving their real problems;

Towards an active citizen of the EU?

Article 11 of the Lisbon Treaty1. The institutions shall, by appropriate means, give citizens

and representative associations the opportunity to make known and publicly exchange their views in all areas of Union action.

2. The institutions shall maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with representative associations and civil society.

3. The European Commission shall carry out broad consultations with parties concerned in order to ensure that the Union's actions are coherent and transparent.

4. Not less than one million citizens who are nationals of a significant number of Member States may take the initiative of inviting the European Commission, within the framework of its powers, to submit any appropriate proposal on matters where citizens consider that a legal act of the Union is required for the purpose of implementing the Treaties.

The scope of the initiative

A practical problem: the admissibility question - many potential ECI organizers’ proposals directly or indirectly imply amendments to the existing EU treaties (“primary law”), but the Commission has stated that it will not register ECIs which propose amendments to EU treaties

The regulation on this issue is unclear and open to challenge by the European Court of Justice.

Such a reading would not only contradict the very usefulness of the citizens’ initiative as an instrument to “reinforce citizens’ and organized civil society’s involvement in the shaping of EU policies”, as the Commission itself expressed it in its Green book, but also contradict Article 1 of the Lisbon Treaty.

Regulation (EU) 211 (2011)

The regulation for the European Citizens‘ Initiative (ECI) will be applicable as of the 1st of April 2012

Citizens’ initiative committees can register an ECI with the European Commission and start collecting signatures

A number of open technical details (duty of signatories to provide ID card numbers, technical aspects of the online registering system)

Top-bottom v. grassroots approach

The EU Commission ‘Europe for Citizens’ program, whose “main priorities include encouraging citizens to become actively involved in the process of European integration, empowering them to develop a sense of European identity, and enhancing mutual understanding between Europeans.”

Grassroots movements, civic associations and non-governmental organizations at the EU level are a rather late phenomenon, and it is questionable how really influential they are.

First ECIs

The European Commission chose the symbolic date of May 9, 2012 (Europe Day) to officially launch the very first ECI. This turned out to be Fraternité 2020, which was announced by Vice-President of the Commission Maroš Šefčovič via his Twitter account already one day earlier. Fraternité 2020 was officially registered on May 9 and boasts registration number ECI(2012)000001.

More initiatives are now being registered by the Commission and include:

End Ecocide in Europe A Citizens’ Initiative to give the Earth Rights;

European Initiative for Media Pluralism; High Quality European Education for All; Single Communication Tariff Act, on roaming fees, supported by

Martin Wittenberg and Vincent Chauvet;[

Right to water, on free access to clean water; Uno di noi, against the use of human embryos in research; and Let me vote, on expanding voting rights for foreigners.

Peculiarities of European civil society

1. Due to the primary economic nature of the European integration, agrarian and industrial associations were for a long time the only ones to be in contact with EU institutions;

2. European umbrella organizations are often without direct members or local branches;

3. Being less directly connected to citizens, and being heavily supported and funded by European Commission, European civil society is at risk of losing its autonomy;

4. Strong decentralized and multi-polar character.(H. Kaelble, 2004)

Europeanization as a prerequisite of the EU democratization

The first prerequisite of a genuinely democratic political system is that those that are about to provide “informed consent” in a certain decision-making process are sufficiently concerned about problems that have to be settled.

A democratic EU presupposes a Europe-interested public in possession of some sort of common collective identity – “Without any notion at all of a ‘we’ being ‘together’ in this process of collective decision-making there would be no reason to consider a ‘higher’ public interest than the sum of private interests.” (Naurin)

Europeanization through less formal channels?

“Europeanization is manifest in new spaces, ranging from EU-specific spaces to new mobilities as a result of more travel for work, sport, tourism, etc., to Europeanized public spheres and expanding borders. Education, in particular higher education, is a significant expression of Europe as a social reality, as is Europe as a knowledge society.” (Delanty)