Normative Perspectives on EuropeanGovernance: Technocracy v. Democracy?

Lecture at the
EUIJ-Kyushu, Kyushu University EU Centre
Fukuoka, 25 July 2014

PROF.DR. THOMAS CHRISTIANSEN
MAASTRICHT UNIVERSITY

Overview of the Lecture The Nature of the EU and its ‘democratic deficit’ Democracy, the nation state and EU legitimacy
 The practice of democracy within states The Institutional Architecture of the EU
 Democratic practice in the EU The Role of the European Parliament EU Democracy beyond the EP
 EU Legitimcy beyond Democracy: Technocracy New perspectives after the Lisbon Treaty
 Lessons from the 2014 EP Elections

The Nature of the European Union Neither a state…
¡ No sovereign power¡ No control over territory¡ No demos … nor an international organisation¡ Law-making authority¡ Permanent limits to the power of states¡ Citizenship¡ Gradual sense of belonging among EU citizens
 European integration situated conceptually between

diplomacy, democracy and technocracy¡ Integration goes ‘too far’ in terms of limits to state sovereignty¡ Integration does not go ‘far enough’ in terms of supranationaldemocracy¡ Important parts of the European Union still rely on output legitmacy

The European Union’s‘Democratic Deficit’ Implicit comparison between the EU and… what?
¡ Nation-state¡ Ideal type of democratic arrangements÷ Majoritarian rule by ‘the people’÷ Reliance of established processes (elections, parties, etc)

 These implicit assumptions might be questioned¡ Is the nation-state really the right reference point for analysing theEU?
¡ Does democracy really operate as it should be?

 Need to explore both the nature of the EU and the nature of

democracy before normative judgements about any ‘deficit’ can bemade Important to recognize that EU legitimacy is not purely democratic,
but also technocratic

Democracy, nation-state and EU legitimacy
 Democracy implies the interaction between demos (thepeople) and kratos (power) (National) identity crucial to the establishment of thenation-state: link between community and government
following the French Revolution
 Search for a European identity to replace national
identities remains futile
 Critical questions about the capacity of the EuropeanUnion to be democratic in the absence of a Europeanpeople Attempts to re-conceptualise EU integration outside thetraditional of the modern nation-state¡ Constitutional patriotism at the EU level (Habermas)¡ Recognition of a Europe of multiple demoi – ‘demoicracy’?

Democracy and the Nation-state Unpacking ‘Democracy’:¡ Liberal? Constitutional?
¡ Majoritarian?
¡ Participatory/representative?
¡ Deliberative?
 The Limits of Democracy: checks and balances go

beyond electoral politics¡ Separation of powers¡ Role of (constitutional) courts¡ Multilevel systems¡ Independent agencies (e.g. banks, regulators)

The practice of democracy within states
 Limits to majoritarian democracy are often accepted at

the nation-state level ‘winner-takes-all’-type elections can be very divisive Limits might become essential in cases where societal
stability is seen to be fragile (divided societies)¡ Federalism¡ Consociationalism and other forms of elite rule¡ Reliance on other forms of legitimacy (e.g. charismatic

leadership)

The Institutional Architecture of the EU

Democratic practice in the EU
 Representative processes¡ Multiple forms of representation¡ Citizens are being represented indirectly (Council) and directly(EP) Hybrid nature of representation across the EUinstitutions¡ Representation of states as equals in the Commission¡ Representation of states and people in the Council¡ Representation of people in the EP

The Role of the EP
 Reflex to consider the EP as the way of democratising the EU¡ Powers of the EP have continually grown÷ Co-decision÷ Budgetary procedure÷ Commission appointment/election (enhanced post-Lisbon – might lead togenuine political competition for the Commission Presidency throughpartisan campaigning)¡ EP now in many ways equal of Council, and in some ways stronger

than national parliaments¡ However,÷ Voter turn-out at elections low and declining÷ Lack of effective scrutiny of politics in the EP÷ Traditional ack of media attention to EP procedures÷ Other aspects of EU democracy matter too…

EU Democracy beyond the EP Council is the second chamber of the EU legislature¡Transparency of Council decision-making
÷ Role of working groups, COREPER, A/B points÷ Pre-cooking of legislative decision-making by administrators¡

Scrutiny of member state interest representation in the Council at the nationallevel÷ QMV makes effective scrutiny difficult÷ Role of national parliaments (e.g. Danish Folketing) Other ways of legitimating decision-making in the EU

EU as a ‘regulatory state’¡ Nature of EU decision-making as problem-solving, efficiency-oriented policymaking¡ Importance of independence of EU institutions from majoritarian andelectoral politics¡ The value of deliberation in EU committees and other fora¡ Accountability and legitimacy are generic concepts are better applied tothe EU than traditional nation-state democracyEU Legitimcy beyond Democracy: Technocracy Other means of legitimating decision-making in the EU¡ EU as a ‘regulatory state’¡ Nature of EU decision-making as problem-solving,efficiency-oriented policy-making¡ Importance of independence of EU institutions frommajoritarian and electoral politics¡ The value of deliberation in EU committees and otherfora
 Accountability and legitimacy are generic concepts arebetter applied to the EU than traditional nation-state
democracy

New perspectives after the Lisbon Treaty
 Further extension of the powers of the EP
 Changed majority voting procedures in the Council

to take greater account of population size Reference in the treaty to both representative andparticipatory democracy Creation of new instruments to bring Europe ‘closer
to the citizens¡ European Citizen Initiative¡ Early Warning System allowing national parliaments toscrutinise EU draft legislation

 New election procedure for Commission PresidentLessons from the 2014 EP Elections
 Major political parties seize the initiative to nominate

candidates for Commission presidency
 Series of debates among these leading candidates –Spitzenkandidaten in the German terminology – produces
greater public awareness of the EU and its institutions
 Inter-institutional tensions after the elections between EP andstate leaders in the European Council
 Success of EP in pushing through Jean-Claude Juncker as
Commission President opens the door for new politics in theEU:
Closer cooperation between Commission and EP¡ Grand coalition between Christian-Democrats, Socialists and Liberals
formalised¡ Foundations laids for more party politics and a more parliamentary EU¡ Potential for future tensions between traditional technocratic

legitimacy and the greater reliance on majoritarian democracy