The solving of the democratic deficit

An analysis of the powers of the European parliament and its legitimacy-problem

Abstract

It seems to be a very simple point. Everyone agrees that the European Union must become more democratic. But how exactly to do that is a huge problem. Some say that the European Parliament (EP) already has as much power as a ‘regular’ parliament has. (Dutch secretary of state for European Affairs Atzo Nicolaï for example1 ). Still, many others think the EP has not that much power and the lack of power is not the only democratic deficit problem in the E.U. And if there existed the chance to give the EP more powers would the problem than be solved? My intention for this paper is not to loose ourselves in the endless flood of information that is available on the internet and in the libraries about all sorts of ‘democratic deficits’. That is why I will try to focus on a small part of the whole discussion about the democratic deficit and see in what different manners it is described in the literature and what it exactly means. I will try to focus mainly on the EP and on its relations with the European Commission.