Democracy and the EU

The EU is composed of 25 European nations, all agreeing to act as unison. Although it is not considered a state, the EU includes several components similar to that of a functioning actor. The European Union is structured on democratic principles. Through checks and balances between institutions, democracy is achieved. In order to establish an understanding of how the EU functions democratically, an examination of its current constitution, the four specific branches, specific EU policies, and the role the EU plays in world politics today is essential.
Through a democratic process, European Union’s constitution evolved from a collection of treaties. These treaties are: Treaty of Paris, Treaty of Rome, Maastricht Treaty, and the Treaty of Nice. A new EU constitution proposes the creation of a foreign minister and EU presidency. Although this proposal centralizes power, if enacted, the constitution would grant Parliament, a representative branch, opportunities to vote in all EU decisions and the power of electing the president of the Commission.
The European Union’s structure includes four fundamental institutional branches. The four branches are: the Commission, the Council, the European Parliament, and the European Court of Justice. Each branch acts as a check and balance to the other branches.
The Commission is committed to acting in the interests of the Union as a whole. Firstly, the Commission proposes legislation to the Parliament and Council, seeking to develop legislation coinciding with the interests of the Union and its citizens. Secondly, the Commission monitors the EU budget. In addition, the Commission implements policy. Thirdly, the Commission encourages that EU laws are applied to member-states. When a member-state fails to abide by a law, the Commission proceeds to negotiate with the member-state. If the Commission fails to negotiate terms, the member-state is turned over to the Court of Justice where penalties may be imposed. Fourthly, the Commission serves as a representative for the EU at an international level. The Commission negotiates international agreements on behalf of the EU. An example of negotiated agreements would be the Cotonou Agreement. This specific negotiation established trade partnership between the EU and developing countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.
The election system within the Commission is checked by other powers. Every five years, member-state governments come to a consensus of who should act as Commission President. Member-state governments and the Commission President choose the members of the Commission. The Parliament offers its opinion of the new Commission. If approved by the Parliament a new Commission may begin. Thus Commission members are checked by member-states and Parliament.
The Council, whose members represent individual member-states, frequently works with other institutions. The Council and Parliament work together to ratify legislation. Also, the Council and Parliament have the responsibility of approving the EU’s annual budget. The Council engages itself at an international level through signing agreements between the EU and non-EU countries. Lastly, the Councils finalize agreements and compromises eventually reached on treaty reforms. The Council’s involvement with other institutions provides checks to its power.
The Council democratically votes on legislation. When voting upon legislation in the Council, the “Qualified majority voting” procedure is most commonly applied. For a proposal of legislation to be approved, it must meet two conditions. Firstly, the proposal must receive an approval by at least two-thirds of the member-states. Secondly, the proposal must have at least a minimum of votes in favor, meaning at least 72.3% in favor of the proposal. The super-majority necessary for the passing of legislation exemplifies democratic principles.
Unlike the Council and Commission, the Parliament is directly elected by the people of the EU. Once elected, the representatives (MEPs) share legislative powers with the Council and Commission. When reviewing legislation, the Parliament, along with the Council, must undergo a co-decision procedure. In this procedure, the Commission sends its proposals to both the Council and Parliament. If the Council and Parliament disagree on the proposal, the proposal is put before a committee containing an equal amount of Council and Parliament representatives. Representatives from the Commission also attend the discussion of proposals. When these representatives come to an agreement, the proposal is brought back to the Council and Parliament, prepared to be adopted as law. A co-decision procedure encourages branches to monitor each other’s decision making.
The European Parliament ensures democracy through monitoring other branches. For example, all Commission members must be approved by the Parliament. Also, the Parliament oversees the Council and Commission by examining reports sent out by the Commission, monitoring the work of the Council through questioning, and closely working on legislation with the other two institutions. At the beginning of every EU Council meeting, the Parliament’s President states the Parliament’s suggestions and concerns. Lastly, the European Parliament has the power to amend the EU budget. Therefore, the Parliament closely monitors the actions of the Commission and Council. Citizens electing representatives is another manifestation of democratic principles within the Parliament.
MEPs are elected in parliamentary elections that occur every five years. Each member-state in the EU has a specific number of representatives based on population. There are a total of 626 representatives in the EU. An existing representative democracy is proven through the Parliament.
The judiciary branch provides a democratic legal process through a decentralization of powers within the main pillars of the EU (Commission, Parliament, and Council). For example, if the Commission, Council, or Parliament fail to act on their responsibilities, any other EU institution may report “failure to act” to the courts. The judiciary branch, comprising of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the national courts, also enforce and interpret law. Each member-state appoints a judge for a six-term, whose primary responsibility is ensuring that law is interpreted and applied equally to member-states. The ECJ encounters four different kinds of cases: preliminary rulings, failure to fulfill an obligation, annulment, and failure to act. Preliminary rulings occur when a national court is unsure of the interpretation of an EU law. The national courts then refer to the ECJ where a final interpretation of the law can be made. During a failure to fulfill an obligation proceeding, the Commission may bring a member-state to court when the member-state is failing to abide by EU law. When any of the three main pillars recognize that an EU law is illegal, they may ask the Court to annul that specific law. The judiciary branch checks and balances the legality of legislation and the actions of institutions and member-states.
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), subsidarity, and the Stability and Growth Pact are examples of democratic EU policies, but have not been perfected. The CAP acts as an agriculture subsidy. Instead of raising prices to consumers, subsidy programs are funded through taxes. These programs promote European agriculture. The CAP focuses on food safety, environmental issues, and allows member-state products to compete with foreign agriculture. Subsidarity is a principle intended to take decisions closely to the citizens. Subsidarity prefers action taken at national, regional, or local levels. Although subsidarity provides citizens with a closer connection to the Union, oftentimes this principle is neglected. The Stability and Growth Pact permits EU institutions to encourage member-states to manage their budgets effectively. The Pact allows the Council to penalize member-states who exceed targeted budgets. The EU, however, failed to penalize larger member-states who exceeded their budgets.
In conclusion, the European Union is structured on democratic principles. Through the examination of the structure of the EU’s political system a better understanding of checks and balances of power is established. The legislative process provides a greater understanding of how law is enacted. Similar to America, the EU affords its citizens with opportunities to become politically active. Current EU policies intend to promote economic growth and stability for all member-states and their citizens.