The democratic deficit is dual in nature

"The democratic deficit is dual in nature"

Demos means people in Greek. Democracy was the name of a constitution in which the poor people exercised power in their own interest as against the interest of the rich and aristocratic. It is commonly accepted that democracy as it is defined by the Western world, is the most appropriate way of organising a society. Democracy as an ideal in the twentieth century has been taken for granted by European people. How can these citizens of Europe exercise their political rights in the 'ever closer Union'? Democratic deficit is a new problem that the European Union has to face. The Belgian Prime Minister Leo Tindemans in his report to the European council first used this expression in 1974. The problem is becoming even more accurate in the 1990s. As the steps of integration lead the member states to more and more commitment in the region, the peoples of Europe have a growing fear that this United Europe will undermine their national sovereignty. The democratic deficit of the European Union should be understood as a dual phenomenon, horizontally at the European level and vertically at the domestic level.

First, it can be understood horizontally, where there are institutional pro

The democratic deficit can also be understood vertically. In that sense it can be defined as the gap between the power held by European institutions and the ability of European citizens to influence the work and decisions of those institutions. The Maastricht Treaty defined that the goal of European integration is to create 'an ever closer union among the people of Europe, in which decisions are taken as closely as possible to the citizen'5. Promoting a people's Europe is the most urgent objective to achieve, then the EU can become more real and close to the citizens of Europe. If the EU is to be more accountable to its citizens, it still has lots to achieve. The deficit can be understood on the domestic scale where it is claimed that the transfer of power has diminished the internal accountability of government. Since the 90's there is a growing distrust in public institutions at national level. In 1991, 72% of respondents claimed that their country's membership was a good thing, that proportion was only 49% in autumn 19976. Moreover, the introduction of the qualified majority since 1987 by the SEA made the domestic control even more difficult. A national voter can find himself deceived by the representatives he has elected to represent his will when he is outvoted in the Council of Ministers. So how much is a government responsible for a policy on which it was outvoted? The voters have thus very little or hardly any impact on the decision-making process as well as national parliaments. Indeed, the EU, national governments are predominant to parliament. The executives have the monopoly of information and can decide not to inform the Parliament. That gives enormous advantages to the Executive over domestic politicians. For they do not need to consult the national parliament before agreeing to legislation. But increasingly, most parliaments try to secure commitments from their government that they will be fully informed and consulted on EU policies. Denmark provides a good example. It has a very rigorous parliamentary system, which ensures close co-operation between the Executive and the parliament in policy-making.

The Council of Ministers is no doubt the most powerful institution within the EU. It is the real decision-making body of the EU, and a completely independent institution; the members of the Council are neither drawn from nor directly answerable as a body to the EP4. The most powerful institution lacks in accountability as a collective entity. Often, its work is secret and opaque, which makes it even more difficult for the European people to understand the role and the work of the EU. The c