The European Union

The multigovernmental nature of the European Union and the national governments of its member states also helps to decrease the democratic deficit, not only on a supranational level, but on a national level as well (Eising 2011). Because there is a division of powers and sovereignty between these two levels of governance, citizens have the capacity, through interest group activity, to represent their interests to two different legislative bodies that could pursue legislation in their favour (Kohler-Koch 1997; Eising 2011). Similarly, due to the relatively nascent state of European Union interest group activity, many groups with similar interests are combining and coordinating efforts in order to have a bigger influence over policy decisions (Greenwood 2003, Eising 2011). Because of this unique phenomenon, smaller groups may work in tandem with

The democratic deficit is a theory developed by scholars in order to illustrate that the European Union and its institutional bodies suffer from a lack of democracy (Wincott, 1998, p. 414). However, there are many definitions of the democratic deficit (Chryssochoou, 2000; Justice, 1996; Warleigh, 2003; Weiler, Haltern & Mayer, 1995) depending on the views and approaches of each scholar. Joseph Weiler's ‘standard version' of the democratic deficit is one of the most common definitions and it is a set of widely-used arguments by academics, scholars and the media (Weiler et al., 1995, cited by Follesdal & Hix, 2005, p. 4). It consists of five claims that explain why the EU can be called undemocratic and they are the following: a) there is an

There is no single body that can be described as the Union’s legislature. Both the Council and the Parliament play significant roles in the process. The European Parliament is frequently accused of democratic deficit. In particular, there are two separate issues to consider: one relates to its composition and another is connected to the engagement of citizens in Parliament. First of all, the European Parliament initially consisted of delegates designated by the Parliaments of Member States, but since 1979, it has been directly elected by the people according to the national electoral system of each Member State. Undoubtedly, that reform helped to overcome the democratic deficit to some extent. Nevertheless, the European Parliament is often criticized of failing to generate much commitment and

EP elections are a key ingredient in the debate over the democratic deficit in the EU. Generally this debate concerns the distance of EU institutions from ordinary citizens and the need for more direct citizen input into the EU decision-making institutions.

The claims that within the EU there is a democratic deficit, because there are extensive powers being accumulated by institutions that appear to lack a satisfactory level of legitimacy, are cogent. The question of is there a democratic deficit within the EU, despite having dominated many political debates since the 70s, is prominent in today 's society now more than ever as a result of the UKs decision to leave the union, consequently causing the world to develop an growing interest in the European Union and its qualities. Despite being a relatively common question, it is important to understand exactly what the EU is and what is meant by the term ‘democratic deficit’. The European Union was formed after World War 2 and stands today as a politico-economic Union made up of 28 countries who exercise their power over European institutions and operate as a single market for trade allowing for the free movement of goods, services, capital and people between member states. More so, the term democratic deficit in relation to the EU refers to the belief that not all European citizens are equally represented politically by the government responsible for doing so and questioning the legitimacy of those within the EU with power.

One of the sources examined in this paper was that of Giandomenico Majone’s article “Europe’s ‘Democratic Deficit’: The Question of Standards”. This article’s purpose was to factor in what definition was to be used for the democratic deficit. In this article Majone separates the two parties influenced by the democratic deficit: The European Community (EC) and the European Union (EU). The democratic deficit then that is used for this paper is taken strictly from the definition used by Majone, “Technocratic decision-making, lack of transparency, insufficient public participation, excessive use of administrative discretion, inadequate mechanisms of control and accountability – that arise whenever important policymaking powers are delegated to

The European Union has greatly evolved over the decades since it has begun into a well-evolved quasi-state of over 28 countries, and over five hundred million citizens. The European Union has been regarded as a method to bring democratic stability and economic prosperity to less developed democracies in East and Central Europe. While the European Union has a mandate to bring all of these standards, the European Union lacks these basic standards for their overall institution. This structural problem has given the European Union its own ‘democratic deficit’. The rise of the democratic deficit has arisen from many undemocratic characteristics of EU institutions, and a lack of a demos or a lack of a single socio cultural European identity. In order for a political body to remain legitimate, it must have the trust and support of the citizens it governs, and makes changes for the continuation of its future. In other words, if the European Union does not take action to combat its democratic deficit, the future of the European Unions institution will be at risk. Another serious issue is the European Union has seen democratic backsliding of many Eastern European countries. This paper will discuss the major issues that the Democratic Deficit has caused for the European Union, and what possible reforms can be done to help fix the democratic deficit.

A legislative process where there is a lack of transparency and accountability creates a democratic deficit. A democratic deficit (or democracy deficit) occurs when presumably democratic organisations or institutions (particularly governing institute) fall short of fulfilling the principles of democracy in their practices or operation where representative and linked parliamentary integrity becomes widely discussed. As far as lack of democracy is concern at European Union, it was first cited by a by Young European Federalists in their manifesto at that time. European Union was formed in order to create an everlasting relation within in its state. It is worth remembering the EU is a supranational state of unprecedented model. It is also worth remembering that EU initially was formed only to enhance collaboration within few financial interests and democracy was not the goal it thrived for. This initial goal has slightly been over shadowed by some critics of its undemocratic status. This issue has somewhat cause the estrangement within the EU states. There have been calls for EU to involve its citizen more and more into their decision making. Although considerable efforts are made throughout its history but one might argue that EU could have done more in order to make it more transparent in last half a century.

After establishing the four principles as the basis for examining the EU’s democratic performance, what’s left to examine is how the EU falls short of meeting these standards resulting it suffering from ‘democracy deficit’.

With regards to the European Union (EU), its democratic deficit attracts one of the highest levels of attention and discussion. Its importance is clearly seen in the Treaty of Lisbon’s preamble which states that it aims to “enhance the ‘democratic legitimacy of the Union”’ . The EU is the first and most advanced form of supranationalism – a regional or international institution with its own governing institutions and structures in modern history. Due to the EU’s unique characteristics, it is not easy to decide what the standards to evaluate democracy should be . However, for the purpose of this essay, the EU’s democratic performance shall be evaluated based on the principle of subsidiarity, accountability, representativeness and

Following United Kingdom membership to the European Union in 1973 alongside other European states, further economic integration of the states lead to the Maastricht agreement of 1992 . The central feature of the agreement was the incorporation of the European monetary union (EMU) the EMU was based on four financial principles of inflation, long-term interest rates, fiscal debt and deficit and exchange rate. The aim of the Union was to harmonise trade and economic relations across member states and as such the EMU imposed restriction on infrastructure investment through strict borrowing limits. As a member state Britain had to comply with the four criteria despite the pressure it placed on its public borrowing and financing of infrastructure. To meet its social responsibility the United Kingdom government started the private finance initiative.

The European Union is committed to a challenging renewable energy goal of at least 27% of final energy consumption by renewable sources by 2030. While this goal is in part motivated by environmentally concerns, with commitments to climate change in mind, it is also politically motivated. Europe energy needs are currently heavily dependent on natural gas, which is mostly imported from Russia. This arrangement puts Europe in danger from Russian blockades and political pressure. The crash of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 renewed tensions between Brussels and Moscow. EU Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger has stated that a 30% energy reduction would prove a useful tool in ensuring European energy security. While there are plentiful opportunities for varied sources of renewable energy generation across Europe, issues arise in supplying this energy to the end consumer. The electrical transmission system has the difficult challenge of matching the current supply to the demand of the system by matching deficiencies in one area of production with abundances in another. In Europe this transmission system is comprised of multiple national transmission operators in a large central network with some additional mostly isolated networks. Increasing interconnection between these networks should result in increased efficiencies and robustness of the overall system. Additionally, the rise of electrically powered vehicles (EVs) will shift the considerable energy demand that is

Introduction Human dignity, democracy, freedom, equality, rule of law and respect for human rights, these are the core values that comprise the organization: the European Union. From economics to politics, the organization has grown to include most of the European countries. Their policies emphasize the rule of law; meaning every action executed within the organization is founded on treaties, along with the agreement of the participating countries. Its focus continues to promote human rights, as well as making their institution more transparent and democratic. The European Union is constantly growing and refining itself into a world-renowned organization.

The History: Brexit is the abbreviation nickname given to the 2016 referendum in which the United Kingdom voted to leave their membership in the European Union. In order for the vote to be official they must use a little known provision in their membership clause with the European Union called the Article 50 or the Lisbon Treaty. The European Union was a political and economic cooperation where participating countries used their collective financial and social practices to strengthen social and economic stability. “The European Union began in 1951 as the European Coal and Steel Community, an effort by six nations to heal the fissures of World War II through duty-free trade. In 1957, the Treaty of Rome created the European Economic Community, or Common Market” (Erlanger 2015). On February 20th 2016 David Cameron Britain’s Prime Minister proposed the Referendum for England that would allow a vote to remain or leave the European Union. While David Cameron is in favor of staying in the European his actions prompted many including London’s Mayor Boris Johnson and Justice Secretary Boris Johnson to pledge their support for the Leave campaign. Many Britons who voted to leave were worried about increasing strain of European Markets including those found in Greece who were under incredible financial strain from internal economic policies that threatened the entire region. However “This didn 't affect the UK directly, as it uses the pound rather than the Euro. But some Britons

History: The European Union is a group of democratic countries, which was founded in 1957, with 6 countries signing the Treaty of Rome. (Roberts et.al, 2008). It was to increase economic prosperity and contribute to an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe and committed to working together e.g. shared currency, financial management, legislative, judicial and executive bodies, regulatory and planning bodies. The main objectives of the EU was to create a unified business environment, the harmonization of company laws and taxation and the freedom of the movement of capital which is closely related to bringing company law of member states into closer agreement. Moreover, The EU set directives for the countries to follow in an attempt to harmonize accounting practices. The two main directives are the fourth directive and the seventh directive, which we will discuss below.