The document discusses the democratic deficit of the European Union and ways to address it. It argues that EU citizens feel detached from EU institutions and lack incentive to vote in European Parliament elections. This represents a legitimacy problem for the EU. However, the European Parliament has grown in power with each new EU treaty and the upcoming elections provide an opportunity for citizens to influence EU policymaking and help reduce the democratic deficit. Voting in the elections is important for a healthy democratic process in the EU.

1. 24
SHRINKING THE DEMOCRATIC
DEFICIT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
European citizens feel detached from the institutions and the process of European
integration. Most citizens lack the incentive to cast their vote at the 2014 elections
to the European Parliament. Therefore, wthe EU stands upon a problem that can
be explained in terms of a lack of legitimacy.
By: Sophie Ødgaard Nielsen & Maria Mundt, INTERNATIONAL POLITIK – NU.
The European Union has out-
grown its original purpose,
and developed further beyond
what its founders could have
dreamed of in 1957, and into
something EU sceptics would
never have imagined. The
European Union continues
to expand geographically to-
wards Eastern Europe, and in
regard to supranational policy.
The inclusion of new member
states that differ from Den-
mark in respect to political
and cultural identity, and the
transfer of sovereignty on dif-
ferent policy issues, as for
example environmental taxa-
tion and the distribution of the
Danish welfare to other Eu-
ropean citizens, force us to
question the very democratic
qualitiesoftheuniqueinstitution-
al setup of the European Union.
The Question of a
Democratic Deficit
The question of a democratic
deficit in the European Union
is first and foremost a ques-
tion about whether the institu-
tions of the European Union
lack legitimacy. That is, wheth-
er we recognize the deci-
sion-making and policies of the
European Union as justified.
In respect to the complexi-
ty and lack of transparency of
the decision making process of
the European Union, Europe-
an citizens, in general, find it
to be difficult to gain access to
the decision making process,
and through this influence the
decisions that affect us all.
This problem applies to the
European Commission, Eu-
ropean Council, and the Eu-
ropean Parliament. However,
the forthcoming May elections
to the European Parliament
give citizens of the EU mem-
ber states an opportunity to
gain influence on the course
of the European integration.
An Institutional Weaker
Alternative
Like our general election in
Denmark, members of the
European Parliament are
elected by popular vote.
Numerous candidates from
all over the European Union
run for election to the Par-
liament, and they are elect-
ed for a five-year term.
The candidates run for differ-
ent political parties, and vote
in favour of these parties when
in Parliament, not by country.
InthisregardelectionstotheEu-
ropeanParliamentresemblethe
general elections in Denmark.
The Parliament constitutes
alongside the European
Council the legislative pow-
er of the European Union.
However,thelegislativepowerof
the European Union is substan-
tially different to the legislative
power of national parliaments.
The European Parliament does
not have the right to legislative
initiative, which instead lies
with the European Commis-
sion. In contrast to the Euro-
pean Parliament, the peoples
of the European Union have
not elected the Commissioners
of the European Commission.
Both bodies affect legislation
but the right of initiative lies with
an institution that is not direct-
ly accountable to the people.
The European Parliament
thereby differs from the na-
tional parliaments of the Eu-
ropean Union in a crucial way.
This results inter alia in the
reluctance to give up part of
our national legislative sover-
eignty to what seems to be a
weaker legislative institution.
The European Union not only
regulates legislation. The Eu-
ropean Union also redistrib-
utes funds between member
states, for example subsidies
in support of French agricul-
ture. This tells us that there are
a number of reasons to seek

2. 25
information about how the EU
makes decisions, and import-
ant reasons to cast your vote.
The Democratic Potential
of the European Parliament
A look into the history of
the European Parliament
shows that the power of the
Parliament has increased
with every signed treaty.
Thequestionofdemocraticdefi-
cit in the European Union has
lingered on since the European
integration process started, and
the Maastricht, Amsterdam,
Nice and Lisbon treaties have
all contributed to an improve-
ment of democratic legitimacy
in the European Parliament.
The Lisbon Treaty improves
citizen access to the demo-
cratic community in the EU
by creating a right to initiative,
and by recognizing the impor-
tance of dialogue between the
European institutions and the
people of the European Union.
This tells us that even though
the European Parliament does
not have the same amount of
legislative power as national
parliaments, the development
within EU shows that the Eu-
ropean Parliament is a parlia-
ment with a growing potential.
Shrinking the Democratic
Deficit
Voting is essential to every
democratic process. By cast-
ing your vote you gain influ-
ence on the Union’s position
on different policy issues in
regard to the financial cri-
ses, the global environmen-
tal challenges, and even the
overall position on the course
of the European integration.
After the election in 2009 the
transparency and legitimacy
of the elections to the Europe-
an Parliament are growing as
a result of an increased focus
on the individual candidates.
As with general elections in
Denmark, the election to the
Parliament is not
simply a question of
”yes” or ”no” to the
European Union.
Among the candi-
dates are both scep-
tics and supporters
of the Union – even
sceptic supporters
–, which means that
even sceptics have
a reason to cast their
vote at the election,
as it is an opportu-
nity to express an
attitude towards
the increased Eu-
ropean integration.
That is why vot-
ing at the election
in May is not nec-
essarily a vote for
‘more EU’, but an
opportunity to make
your voice heard.
This year the Dan-
ish candidates has
an increased focus
on making the elec-
tion process more
transparent for the
first time voter, and
showing how Den-
mark fits into the
European picture.
If the election re-
sults in a greater
voter turnout than
in previous years,
and the candidates are able to
spark debate and deliberation,
it will be a step towards shrink-
ing the democratic deficit.
However, this relies on
whether Danish voters will
use their democratic right to
vote at the European Par-
liament election on May 25.