About the book
This book is a collection of the contributions to the Governing Europe project, which tackles the current situation and the future developments of the European mechanism of governance, putting forward a series of policy and institutional recommendations for the medium and long term, aimed at improving the democratic nature and the effectiveness of the European decision-making processes.
Democratic-legitimacy problem facing the multilevel EU
It is widely held that the EU suffers from a democratic deficit, but there is no agreement on the specific nature of the deficit. In this chapter Fossum specifies the nature of the democratic-legitimacy problem facing the multilevel EU. Two dimensions, the institutional-constitutional and the socio-cultural, are highlighted. He discusses how the context of crisis has transformed the EU. The many crises and their handling have not only exacerbated but also to a considerable extent altered the democratic-legitimacy problems facing the EU. In order to best capture these changes, it is useful to operate with several possible democratic decision-making configurations. These are presented and assessed in terms of how well they capture the present challenges facing the EU. The author also discusses specific reform options and what they may imply for the Union’s democratic deficit.
Full info
John Erik Fossum
Democracy and Legitimacy in the EU: Challenges and Options
In: Governing Europe. How to Make the EU More Efficient and Democratic
Lorenzo Vai, Pier Domenico Tortola and Nicoletta Pirozzi (eds)
Peter Lang, 2017
ISBN 9782807600607
DOI:10.3726/b10699