Democracy in the European Union Research Papers (original) (raw)

-An open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence
-Provides empirically grounded analysis for politicians and voters to understand the possibilities and limits of democracy
-Examines how and why the two traditional democratic values (freedom and equality) are implemented in the largest European countries
-This wide-ranging study examines how freedom and equality have developed across a thirty year period since 1990, particularly focusing on the impact of the 2008 Great Recession

- by Leonardo Morlino and +1
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- European Studies, Equality, Freedom, Democracy in the European Union
- by Valerius M. Ciuca
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- European History, European Studies, European integration, European Law
- by Sergiusz Bober
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- European Studies, Jewish Studies, European integration, Sovereignty
- by Dejan Verčič and +1
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- Public Relations, Communication Management, Strategic Communication, European Union

Quando fu creato, il Parlamento europeo era solo una tra le molte assemblee sovranazionali del secondo dopoguerra. Come le altre, non aveva ampi poteri né era eletto direttamente dai cittadini. Tuttavia, si svilupparono presto campagne per la sua elezione. Il libro ripercorre le diverse battaglie per l’introduzione del voto europeo e i diversi significati politici che a questo sono stati attribuiti. Prende in considerazione
la prospettiva degli attivisti europeisti, che ambivano a costruire una federazione europea incentrata sul Parlamento, e lo scontro
con chi difendeva una visione confederale dell’integrazione europea. Esamina l’emergere di un chiaro deficit democratico nella Cee e il tentativo di risolverlo anche attraverso l’introduzione del voto. Sottolinea, infine, come la prima elezione del Parlamento europeo (1979) sia stata immaginata come uno strumento per consolidare la natura intergovernativa della Cee e contenere il Parlamento europeo.

This analysis shows how the European integration drive spurs image alteration of national self and other through applying findings from social psychology. It highlights the implications of the EU constraining national polity punishments against civil society actors violating sovereignty-based norms. The EU encourages cross-border activity strategies among the multitude of private sector, interest group and social movement actors. National actors undergo inducements to justify and defend their transnational vested interests domestically and regionally. These incentives motivate European national polity actors to transcend traditional national stereotypical images of self and other when confronting negative social self-image intra-European comparisons. This study analytically outlines how, instead of engaging in the social psychology of zero-sum social competition, European integration facilitates adopting strategies emphasizing intra-European social mobility and social creativity. Social mobility includes self-identity transformation, legitimated within a framework of being so-called European. The opportunity for pursuit of a strategy of social creativity, i.e. being different but equal in social status, is supported. EU policy making institutions functionally serve to coopt national sovereignty to legitimize social deviance. These institutions accommodate nationalist values while encouraging the perception of deviance as a form of social creativity contributing to the constitution of a European great power identity ideal. JEL: F02, F5, F52, F53, D74

Il volume offre un'analisi del ruolo del Parlamento europeo rispetto alle riforme istituzionali e alla politica estera dell'Unione europea, e del suo contributo alla costruzione di una sfera pubblica europea. Partendo dall'analisi delle posizioni assunte dai gruppi parlamentari e da singoli deputati rispetto alle tematiche di natura istituzionale, dal Progetto Spinelli del 1984 fino al Trattato di Lisbona, vengono ricostruiti e valutati il dibattito parlamentare, la coesione dei gruppi e le dinamiche delle relazioni tra il Pe, da un lato, e le altre istituzioni dell'Ue e i governi nazionali, dall'altro. Viene poi analizzato il contributo del Parlamento rispetto alla costruzione dell'azione esterna dell'Ue e del suo ruolo nel mondo, con particolare riferimento alla politica estera, di sicurezza e difesa, alla politica per lo sviluppo e alla politica ambientale internazionale. Infine, nella terza parte, l'attenzione è focalizzata sulle elezioni europee del maggio 2019, con particolare rilievo dato ai temi del populismo e del sovranismo, anche con l'obiettivo di verificare l'esistenza di un adeguato collegamento tra il dibattito dei gruppi politici e la comunicazione ufficiale del Pe, nel suo rapporto con l'opinione pubblica e la società civile organizzata.

- by Diane Fromage
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- European Studies, Subsidiarity, European Union Law, European Commission

Niniejsza publikacja stanowi rezultat badań prowadzonych przez autorkę w obszarze efektywności koordynacji polityk unijnych w Polsce, finansowanych w ramach wsparcia młodych naukowców ze środków przeznaczonych na badania statutowe w Instytucie Nauk Politycznych Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. W pewnej mierze opracowanie bazuje także na wieloletnich analizach funkcjonowania systemu koordynacji polityk unijnych w Polsce i w państwach bałtyckich, realizowanych w ramach wcześniejszych projektów badawczych autorki, w tym projektów związanych z komercjalizacją wyników badań naukowych. W szczególności ta część niniejszej publikacji, która dotyczy konkretnych rozwiązań technologicznych, jakie mogą zostać zastosowane w celu usprawnienia procesów koordynacji polityki europejskiej w Polsce. Wiele elementów niniejszej publikacji ma charakter rekomendacji dotyczących praktycznego zastosowania narzędzi zwiększających efektywność koordynacji polityk unijnych w Polsce.

« Il n’y a pas d’oranges fascistes. Il n’y a que des oranges » : cette phrase du ministre français des Affaires étrangères, Georges Bidault, prononcée devant l’Assemblée nationale française, en 1948, lors d’un débat sur l’Espagne franquiste, résume à elle seule les relations établies par les Etats fondateurs des Communautés européennes avec les dictatures d’Europe du sud au cours des trois décennies qui suivent la seconde guerre mondiale. Les discours commémoratifs contemporains évoquent une intégration européenne axée dès l’origine sur la défense des droits de l’Homme. L’« Europe des droits de l’Homme » et l’« Europe économique » empruntèrent pourtant des voies séparées, l’une, sous la forme d’un Conseil de l’Europe consacré pour l’essentiel à la protection des droits de l’Homme mais dépourvu de force de dissuasion et l’autre, au travers de Communautés européennes dotées de pouvoirs réels mais peu réceptives aux préoccupations non économiques. Ce livre retrace le processus de convergence de ces deux pans majeurs de la construction européenne à travers l’évolution des relations entretenues par ces organisations internationales avec les dictatures méditerranéennes. Si la démocratie et les droits de l’Homme devinrent, avec le temps, des composantes essentielles du processus d’intégration européenne, ils le durent en grande partie aux réseaux de solidarité internationale et à l’activisme d’acteurs politiques déterminés à prouver qu’il existait bien des « oranges fascistes ».

This paper draws on Polanyi’s analysis of the economy-democracy tension to discuss today’s crisis in Greece and the Eurozone. First, some of the economic and social effects of the Greek austerity program are discussed with reference to his observations on liberal international interventionism in the interwar period. Secondly, we look at the ways in which democratic outcomes (elections, referenda, parliamentarian decisions etc.) in Greece and elsewhere were, during different crisis episodes following 2010, put aside in favour of market discipline and austerity doctrines. It is argued that Polanyi’s thesis on the “mutual incompatibility” between capitalism and democracy (the core of what he termed “anti-democratic virus”) is crucial for understanding today’s crisis and crisis management in the framework of Eurozone’s liberalism.

The significance of citizen participation is increasingly being acknowledged in the context of constitutional change. The chapter will focus on deliberation – in particular in the guise of citizens’ assemblies - in relation to constitutional reforms. Various processes of constitutional amendment and constitution-making – or more broadly relating to issues of quasi-constitutional standing – have included forms of citizen deliberation. Deliberative democratic practices are situated within the bigger picture of citizen participation in constitutional reforms, and the basics of deliberation introduced, to subsequently examine a number of selected cases of citizen deliberation in processes of constitutional change, regarding exponents, forms of participant selection, site of deliberation, types of deliberation, outcomes and manifestations of participation in the process. The final section discusses a number of critical issues, including the ad hoc nature of deliberative processes, the issue of how to connect micro-level to macro-level deliberation and issues regarding representation, legitimacy, and empowerment.

- by Paul Blokker and +1
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- Constitutional Law, European integration, Deliberative Democracy, European Union Law
- by José Luis Martí
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- European Studies, Political Philosophy, European integration, European Law

This open access book explores how digital tools and social media technologies can contribute to better participation and involvement of EU citizens in European politics. By analyzing selected representative e-participation projects at the local, national and European governmental levels, it identifies the preconditions, best practices and shortcomings of e-participation practices in connection with EU decision-making procedures and institutions. The book features case studies on parliamentary monitoring, e-voting practices, and e-publics, and offers recommendations for improving the integration of e-democracy in European politics and governance. Accordingly, it will appeal to scholars as well as practitioners interested in identifying suitable e-participation tools for European institutions and thus helps to reduce the EU’s current democratic deficit. This book is a continuation of the book “Electronic Democracy in Europe” published by Springer.

- by Georg Aichholzer and +1
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- Electronic Democracy, E-voting, Democracy in the European Union, European Citizens' Initiative

Oficiale, laŭ traktato de Lisbono, Eŭropa Unio estas regata per demokratio, per justeco, per nediskriminacio. Sed fakte la estraro nur uzas la anglan lingvon, do la plejmulto de la loĝantoj, kiuj ne scipovas la anglan lingvo, estas viktimoj de diskriminacio. La esploroj "Eŭrobarometro" (Eurobaromètre, Eurobarometer...) montras ke la loĝantaro deziras samtempe ke ĉiuj lingvoj estu same traktataj, kaj ke estu unu komuna lingvo por interkompreno. La internacia lingvo esperanto povas esti ilo por havi samtempe unu komunan lingvon, kaj egalecon inter ĉiuj oficialaj lingvoj.

- by Pierre Dieumegard
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- Languages, English language, European Union, Esperanto as a Second Language

Το ζήτημα του επαρκούς, ή όχι, δημοκρατικού χαρακτήρα της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης (Ε.Ε.) και κατ’ επέκταση της ύπαρξης, ή όχι «δημοκρατικού» ελλείμματος σ’ αυτήν, είναι ένα ζήτημα διαχρονικό, πολυσήμαντο και απόλυτα επίκαιρο. Διαχρονικό διότι παρακολουθεί σχεδόν όλη τη διάρκεια της ιστορικής πορείας της ευρωπαϊκής ενοποιητικής διαδικασίας. Πολυσήμαντο, αφού πυροδοτεί ατέρμονες ακαδημαϊκές συζητήσεις, προκαλεί έντονες πολιτικές αντιπαραθέσεις και κατακλύζει τον ευρωπαϊκό τύπο με πληθώρα δημοσιευμάτων, ενώ συχνά λειτουργεί ακόμα και ως όχημα εξυπηρέτησης δημαγωγικών και λαϊκιστικών σκοπιμοτήτων. Τέλος, επίκαιρο, καθώς η επίκληση της ανάγκης εκδημοκρατισμού της ΕΕ εντείνεται στο μέτρο που αυξάνονται οι εξουσιαστικές αρμοδιότητές της, τόσο έναντι των κρατών μελών όσο και απευθείας έναντι των πολιτών τους , καθώς και εξαιτίας της ασυμμετρίας που εμφανίζεται μεταξύ της οικονομικής και της πολιτικής ενοποίησης της Ευρώπης .
Παρά, όμως, τον θόρυβο που προκαλεί, δεν είναι καθόλου σίγουρο ότι τελικά υφίσταται ένα τέτοιο ζήτημα, ότι δηλαδή η προβληματική γύρω από τη δημοκρατικότητα της Ε.Ε. καταρχάς τεκμηριώνεται, κατά δεύτερον έχει κάποια ουσιαστική χρησιμότητα και κατά τρίτον υπάρχει ένα σαφώς οριοθετημένο πλαίσιο αναφοράς για την όλη συζήτηση. Δηλαδή, δεν είναι καθόλου σίγουρο ότι όλοι όσοι πραγματεύονται το συγκεκριμένο ζήτημα και κάνουν λόγο για δημοκρατικό έλλειμμα, ή δημοκρατική επάρκεια και νομιμότητα στην Ε.Ε., αναφέρονται στο ίδιο πράγμα, μιλούν την ίδια γλώσσα και προσδοκούν τα ίδια αποτελέσματα.

- by Natassa Kordou
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- European Studies, European integration, European Politics, European Union
- by Athanassios N. Samaras
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- European Studies, Greek History, Modern Greece, European Union Politics

In der globalisierten Welt im Umbruch zeigt die Europäische Union Ermüdungserscheinungen. Ökonomische Konflikte und Identitätskrisen zehren an ihrem Selbstverständnis. Die Leitidee des Staatenverbundes als »einer immer engeren Union der Völker Europas« scheint aus der Zeit gefallen, der Rückzug ins Nationale nicht zukunftsfähig. Wenn das Europäische Einigungsprojekt noch Chancen haben soll, muss es neu begründet werden. »Europa erneuern!« soll heißen, eine Vision für das 21. Jahrhundert zu entwickeln, welche euro-skeptische Mythen ebenso wie Wunschbilder entzaubert und Europas Potentiale stärkt. Ein Upgrade der Demokratie in der EU ist nötig und die innovative Weiterentwicklung der Konventsmethode möglich, wenn das Leitbild einer transnationalen Europäischen Republik realisiert werden soll.

"L'economia è oggi guidata e dominata dal sapere, dalla conoscenza, dalla ricerca, dall'informazione.
Questi sono gli elementi che caratterizzano la nostra società e le dinamiche economiche in cui operiamo.
L'era della Società dell'Informazione è ufficialmente iniziata nel momento in cui Bell spostò il nucleo dell'economia del lavoro dalla produzione materiale alla produzione del sapere, che sta a monte, individuandola come il fondamento su cui avrebbe poggiato la nuova economia del III millennio.
Per Bell "ogni società è una società dell'informazione e ogni organizzazione è un'organizzazione di informazione (.) L'informazione è necessaria per far funzionare ogni cosa, dalla cellula alla General Motors".
Dagli anni '70 in tutto il mondo inizia a svilupparsi la chiara consapevolezza che qualcosa di importante stava cambiando, che la società stava attraversando una profonda, ma sensibile, trasformazione."

- by Patrizia Bertini
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- Social Policy, Information Society, Social Inclusion, E-Government

La división de poderes es uno de los requisitos para poder hablar de la democracia junto con el respeto de los derechos fundamentales. La división de poderes de la Unión Europea viene materializada por el Tratado de Lisboa y es bastante singular en la medida que no se corresponde con la tradicional de los Estados. Las instituciones europeas, el Parlamento, la Comisión, el Consejo, el Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea, el Tribunal de Cuentas y el Consejo Europeo, con una presencia destacada de su Presidente y la Alta Representante, configuran un sistema único de contrapesos, consecuente con el carácter también único de la Unión Europea como organización internacional de integración con tintes de organización de derecho constitucional. Bajo esta perspectiva no es posible aplicarle las exigencias tradicionales que se aplican a los Estados para considerarlos democráticos, a pesar del carácter suficientemente democrático de la Unión Europea, que es mejorable en el corto plazo y deseable que cumpla todos los requisitos para considerarse plenamente democrática a ojos del derecho constitucional en el medio y largo plazo; en cualquiera de los supuestos es necesaria la toma de conciencia de los europeos como pueblo y que los partidos políticos actúen como tales, siendo realmente partidos europeos que representen a los ciudadanos europeos.

- by Robert Boettner
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- Constitutional Law, European Law, Comparative Constitutional Law, European Union

In the literature on European integration, politicization as concept is often attributed major importance. This article shows how the literature variously discusses the politicization of European Union (EU) institutions, the politicization of EU decisionmaking processes or the politicization of EU issues. Similarly, the literature attributes three different functions to politicization: it functions to crystallize opposing advocacy coalitions, to raise the question of legitimacy and to alter the course of European integration. Despite this diversity, this article argues we are in fact dealing with an encompassing
process. To further our understanding of politicization of European integration, politicization as process is defined as an increase in polarization of opinions, interests or values and the extent to which they are publicly advanced towards policy formulation within the EU. Furthermore, attention is directed to practices of representative claims-making in the public sphere through which relationships of delegation and accountability can be altered in discourse.

This report is the result of the first phase of the project “New Teaching Fields for the Next Generation of Journalists” funded by Erasmus+. The project is embedded in the action type “Strategic partnerships for higher education” and will run for three years until August 2023. The primary goal of NEWSREEL2 is to improve such skills of a new generation of European journalists that are connected to the use of digital communication opportunities in a creative and responsible way for enhancing social benefits of the digital era. The project is the extension of NEWSREEL - New Skills for the Next Generation of Journalists.
The project focuses on nine professional fields: 1. Storytelling in social media, 2. Graphic journalism, 3. Improving democratic sensibility, 4. Covering migration, 5. Foreign coverage, 6. Journalism for voice-activated assistants and devices, 7. AI and journalism, robot journalism and algorithms, 8. Verifying and analysing fake news, 9. Debunking disinformation.
The project team consists of journalism and media scholars and journalists from the University of Pécs (Hungary), the Erich Brost Institute for International Journalism, an NGO named Hostwriter (Germany), the University Insitute of Lisbon (Portugal), the University of Bucharest (Romania) and the Masaryk University (Czech Republic).
The aim of this research was to introduce the new project fields in more depth and lay the foundations of the curricula and e-learning development. In the report we covered:
- the current status of these types of new skills and tools of journalism in the media field of the partner countries,
- the main media outlets and journalists that are using these skills and tools, some outstanding examples of these types of journalism,
- the needs of journalists and market players regarding the innovations in journalism education.
Therefore, we made an analysis of literature on the given topics, and interviews with four or five journalists per field from the participating countries. The interviews were based on a semi-structured interview guide consisting of both field-specific questions and a set of education-related questions, which were the same across all fields. We interviewed 41 journalists between March and June 2021, either via video calls or in written form through email-based questionnaires.
The results will help our consortium throughout the next steps of our project, as this research report is the outcome of just the first phase of NEWSREEL2. All educational materials produced by the project will be made openly and freely accessible through open licenses via the project’s website http://newsreel.pte.hu/ in English.

- by Annamária Torbó and +6
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- Journalism, Migration, Digital Journalism, Social Media

The Bulgarian citizenry’s behavioral expectations that associate with post-Communist Bulgarian nationalism show comparatively weak consensus beyond joining Europe, represented by the EU. Bulgarian social movements against corruption are more likely to be effective with the emergence of an EU-oriented relative consensual agreement within Bulgarian society upon the social contractual meaning of Bulgarian citizenship. The EU as an external norm entrepreneur lacks a strong Bulgarian national cultural institutional interlocutor with which to negotiate to assist in translating EU ideals into the Bulgarian domestic context. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church (BOC) is comparatively politically weak as a domestic norm entrepreneur. Bulgaria lacks an organized national religious institution that effectively claims to articulate prescriptions for national wellbeing. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church is comparatively weak because of its historically dependent relationship in relation to modern Bulgarian nationalism. Relevant comparisons with Roman Catholic Poland as well as other Orthodox Slavic communities illustrate these differences.

This article focuses on the technological affordances and use of Rousseau, the decision-making platform of the second largest Italian political party, the Five Star Movement. Crossing an empirical observation of the platform’s functionalities with data regarding its use and qualitative data collected during the 2016 and 2017 national meetings of the Five Star Movement, the essay argues that Rousseau supports an emerging “direct parliamentarianism,” which allows party members to entertain an ostensibly direct relationship with the party in public office, at the expense, however, of deliberative processes that may allow them to influence the party agenda. Thus Rousseau leaves the deliberative, and strictly parliamentary moment in the hands of elected representatives and party leaders, leaving to the party base the task of choosing between options that have been defined elsewhere.

- by Marco Deseriis
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- Open Government, Electronic Democracy, e-Democracy, Digital Democracy
- by Angelos Sepos
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- Critical Theory, European History, European Studies, Comparative Politics
- by Pascal Delwit
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- European History, Political Sociology, European Studies, Comparative Politics

During the long history of European unification, several referendums have taken place and most of them proved to be rather historic. Some European demoi-but certainly not all of them-were occasionally given the chance to map their own route through the processes of European enlargement and integration. They have decided upon their own integration, upon other States' membership or even upon treaty ratifications. They have even rejected-in France and the Netherlands-the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. More recently, in Greece, they rejected a working document concerning a European 'rescue plan' in the midst of the Euro-crisis while, in 2016, the United Kingdom voted upon its own future in the Union. The present chapter analyses the European institutions' reactions to these national referendums on European issues, especially when people gave a seemingly 'wrong' answer (from a European-integration point of view). Reversing the 'no' votes and reviewing a posteriori national referendums through divers processes often led by unelected technocrats has become a common place in modern Europe, given that even the Treaty of Lisbon itself probably suffers from this kind of democratic-legitimacy deficit. Finally, the chapter examines more broadly the question of direct-democracy mechanisms within the Union questioning the non-existence of any kind of pan-European referendum. While most scholars and politicians are still questioning the existence of a European demos, the present study insists more on the absence of those mechanisms which would allow this demos to be heard; to officially declare its will and determine its own fate. The modern European crisis is, thus, seen as only a sign of a much broader crisis of identity and democratic legitimacy taking place within the European Union. As long as the Union keeps ignoring its own demos-and sometimes even the rare national referendums on European questions-there is no future for either European common identity or democracy.

- by Elia Alexiou
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- European integration, International Law, Global Governance, Asylum Law