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The Democratic Deficit of the EU: Two Schools Under One Roof

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Balkan Yearbook of European and International Law 2019

Part of the book series: Balkan Yearbook of European and International Law ((BYEIL,volume 2019))

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Abstract

In the ongoing debate over the democratic credentials of the European Union, two competing viewpoints have emerged over time: one that characterizes the EU as conforming to the democratic expectations in the larger public discourse and the other that it does not conform to those expectations. When looked at over the time span of almost three decades, each viewpoint has made significant contributions to the ongoing debate as to the future course of the EU. In the process, each approach has evolved into what could be loosely be characterized as an independent school of thought. For this paper, the former school will be termed the Democratic Deficit School (DDS) while the latter will be called the Non-Conformist School (NCS). Employing a limited content analysis of the various arguments mustered for both positions, this paper examines the strengths, weakness, divergences and compatibilities between these respective schools of thought.

Drawing on arguments from both the DDS and NCS approaches, the paper argues in favor of an emergent DDS paradigm to explain the current realities of the existing institutional architecture and the (often) competing priorities of member states and their respective supranational and intergovernmental visions. The undergirding thesis, here, is that the NCS school of thought, while offering compelling reasoning, especially in accounting for the early events in EU economic integration, fails to fully consider its unique, sui-generis nature as a hybrid entity in explaining later transitions as the EU has taken on greater roles in the political arena. The tangible result is that its technocratic, utilitarian aspects of the entity are mistaken for a loss of democratic representation and impulse within the EU itself.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Sementilli (2012), p. 6.

  2. 2.

    Follesdal and Hix (2006).

  3. 3.

    Moravcsik (2008), pp. 331–340.

  4. 4.

    Majone (1998), pp. 5–28.

  5. 5.

    Sementilli (2012), p. 17.

  6. 6.

    Boyce (1993), pp. 458–477; Warleigh and Warleigh-Lack (2003), p. 10.

  7. 7.

    Stavridis (2006), pp. 4–5.

  8. 8.

    Crombez (2003), pp. 101–120.

  9. 9.

    Stavridis (2006), p. 4.

  10. 10.

    Lord (2013), p. 236.

  11. 11.

    Craig and De Búrca (2003), p. 168; Raunio (1999), pp. 180–202.

  12. 12.

    Stavridis (2006).

  13. 13.

    Chryssochoou (1997), p. 2.

  14. 14.

    Katz (2001), p. 2.

  15. 15.

    Maurer (2004), p. 56.

  16. 16.

    Chryssochoou (2000), p. 10.

  17. 17.

    Innerarity (2015), pp. 173–174.

  18. 18.

    Craig and De Búrca (2003), p. 168.

  19. 19.

    Paley (2002), pp. 469–470.

  20. 20.

    Ballmann (2002), pp. 551–574.

  21. 21.

    Stein (2001), pp. 489–534.

  22. 22.

    Dilek (2011), p. 244.

  23. 23.

    Bellamy and Castiglione (1997), pp. 421–445.

  24. 24.

    Anell (2018), pp. 6–64.

  25. 25.

    Bol et al. (2016), pp. 525–545.

  26. 26.

    See: Article 223(1) TFEU.

  27. 27.

    Lee (2014), p. 9.

  28. 28.

    Gagatek (2010), pp. 3–33.

  29. 29.

    Arnull and Wincott (2002), p. 7.

  30. 30.

    Stavridis (2006).

  31. 31.

    Grimm (1995), pp. 282–302.

  32. 32.

    Weiler and Weiler (1999), p. 337.

  33. 33.

    Crombez (2003), pp. 101–120.

  34. 34.

    Crombez (2003).

  35. 35.

    Sementilli (2012).

  36. 36.

    Follesdal and Hix (2006), p. 177.

  37. 37.

    Raunio (1999), pp. 180–202.

  38. 38.

    Follesdal and Hix (2006), p. 534.

  39. 39.

    Hayes-Renshaw and Wallace (1997), pp. 135–138.

  40. 40.

    Moravcsik (1993), pp. 473–524.

  41. 41.

    Moravcsik (2002), pp. 603–624.

  42. 42.

    Moravcsik (1993), Ibid.

  43. 43.

    Moravcsik (2002), p. 603.

  44. 44.

    Hiks (2007), p. 179.

  45. 45.

    Moravcsik (2008), pp. 331–340.

  46. 46.

    Ibid.

  47. 47.

    Ibid.

  48. 48.

    Moravcsik (2002), Ibid.

  49. 49.

    Moravcsik (2006), pp. 219–241.

  50. 50.

    Follesdal and Koslwoski (1998), p. 54.

  51. 51.

    Misita (2007), p. 204.

  52. 52.

    Majone (1998), pp. 5–28.

  53. 53.

    Majone (1993).

  54. 54.

    Misita (2007), p. 191.

  55. 55.

    Majone (2002), pp. 375–392.

  56. 56.

    Misita (2007), p. 191.

  57. 57.

    Wiesner (2008), pp. 96–122.

  58. 58.

    Follesdal and Koslwoski (1998), p. 77.

  59. 59.

    Majone (1998), Ibid.

  60. 60.

    Wiesner (2008), Ibid.

  61. 61.

    Scharpf (1999), pp. 261–288.

  62. 62.

    Ibid.

  63. 63.

    Ash (2002).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Khobar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Adnan Mahmutovic

  2. University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Nermina Memic-Mujagic

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  1. Adnan Mahmutovic
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  2. Nermina Memic-Mujagic
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Correspondence to Adnan Mahmutovic .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Law, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Zlatan Meškić

  2. Faculty of Law, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia

    Ivana Kunda

  3. Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Dušan V. Popović

  4. Faculty of Law, University of Zenica, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Enis Omerović

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Mahmutovic, A., Memic-Mujagic, N. (2019). The Democratic Deficit of the EU: Two Schools Under One Roof. In: Meškić, Z., Kunda, I., Popović, D., Omerović, E. (eds) Balkan Yearbook of European and International Law 2019. Balkan Yearbook of European and International Law, vol 2019. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/16247_2019_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/16247_2019_9

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