Special Issue: The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy. The quest for democracy

Helene Sjursen has edited a special issue of Journal of European Public Policy called "The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy: the quest for democracy" with contributions from Christopher Lord and Erik O. Eriksen.

From the introductory article:

Calls for more powers to the European Parliament (EP) in the European Union’s (EU) foreign and security policy (CFSP/ESDP) are becoming increasingly common. How can this be? Even with the Lisbon Treaty, foreign and security policy is said to remain intergovernmental, with state territory as the core organizing principle for its institutions.1 In such a context, sustaining national democratic procedures that enable the accountability of executives should not be a problem. Why, then, the allegation of a democratic deficit and the demand for increased powers to the EP?

In this collection we critically examine the claim of an emerging democratic deficit in the field of foreign and security policy. In order to do so, it is necessary to have a clearer picture of the degree and form of integration in this domain. It is only when this is clarified that we can establish what kinds of democratic problems – if any – may have arisen. If the EU has moved beyond intergovernmentalism, questions would arise as to how national executives can be held accountable. However, a departure from intergovernmentalism does not necessarily point in a single direction, and different forms of integration would require different forms and channels of democratic legitimation. Hence, this collection follows a twin track of addressing both the questions of the ‘nature of the beast’ and of democracy.

Contents

Helene Sjursen
The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy: the quest for democracy
Pages 1069-1077

Helene Sjursen
Not so intergovernmental after all? On democracy and integration in European Foreign and Security Policy

Pages 1078-1095

Ana E. Juncos & Karolina Pomorska

Invisible and unaccountable? National Representatives and Council Officials in EU foreign policy
Pages 1096-1114

Federica Bicchi

The EU as a community of practice: foreign policy communications in the COREU network
Pages 1115-1132

Christopher Lord
The political theory and practice of parliamentary participation in the Common Security and Defence Policy

Pages 1133-1150

Jutta Joachim & Matthias Dembinski

A contradiction in terms? NGOs, democracy, and European foreign and security policy
Pages 1151-1168

Erik Oddvar Eriksen
Governance between expertise and democracy: the case of European Security

Pages 1169-1189

Ben Tonra

Democratic foundations of EU foreign policy: narratives and the myth of EU exceptionalism
Pages 1190-1207

Published Dec. 1, 2011 5:02 PM - Last modified Jan. 26, 2022 1:10 PM