Democratic Deficit - European Union

European Union

The European Union (EU) is a unique organisation – not a federal state, yet not just an International Organisation. Whether there is a democratic deficit in the EU depends on how it is viewed. Compared to an ideally democratic Nation-State the EU is less democratic and thus has a democratic deficit. If the EU, however, is compared to an International Organisation like the World Trade Organisation, the World Bank or the United Nations the EU has a democratic surplus.

The biggest democratic difficulties for the European Union are the low popular interest in the EU, the already low and consistently decreasing turnout in elections to the European Parliament, the divide between politicians and the general population on european integration, the complicated and technocratic nature of EU decision-making processes, and the activism of the European Court of Justice.

There is no consensus as to whether the Lisbon Treaty reduces or increases the democratic deficit in the European Union. The Lisbon Treaty increases the power of the democratically elected European Parliament and introduces the Citizen's initiative. The Lisbon Treaty was, however, ratified by the governments of countries whose people would most likely reject the treaty if it were put to a democratic referendum.