Democratic Deficit in the EU

... way of the momentum generated by the key leaders. Most Europeans were not asked official opinion, and indeed permission in referenda, The citizens of the 'Euro 11' have had almost no way to halt this profound change.

John Major in 1994 commented that, "…the European Parliament sees itself as the future democratic focus for the Union. But that is a flawed ambition, because the European Union is an association of States, deriving its basic democratic legitimacy through national Parliaments…it is national parliamentary democracy that confers legitimacy on the European Union"[vi]. John Major was wrong and although national parliaments can 'pull-out' of the European Union at any time, they have very little control over which powers they abandon to the European Union's institutions. The continued attrition of the national parliaments powers is not directed by the national powers but by the over zealous institutions of the European Union, trying to put in place the mechanism for further integration!

It is the common belief that in order to eliminate the 'democratic deficit' within the European Union, power will have to be taken at the expense of the national Parliaments; this is not necessarily the case. It has been the case in the past that with the introduction of the 'Qualified Majority Vote' that the European Parliament has not gained the sufficient power of that taken from the national Parliaments and therefore the influence of the national Parliaments has been reduced over community decisions. . Public disquiet over what Dinan refers to as "the elitism and obscurity of Community decision-making" seems to lend ...