Democratic legitimacy is a precious political treasure and Europe is trying quite desperately to obtain it. Yet the selection process for the new head of the European Commission will leave many citizens bewildered. Gone is the only minor democratic reform of the recent years, which envisaged the spitzenkandidat of the largest European party being selected as the Commission President. Back is the power of member-states to appoint their own candidate in back-door horse-trading. The European Parliament can show its disgruntlement, but in the end, it has no viable alternative but to fall into the line as it did yesterday, however narrowly.
The power of the Council used to be justified in democratic terms, because its members represent vibrant democracies. However, this proposition becomes shaky if we look at some states in Central and Eastern Europe. Even leaders of western states such as Italy, Great Britain or France are now confronted with a serious legitimacy crisis.
Even leaders of western states such as Italy, Great Britain or France are now confronted with a serious legitimacy crisis.
The system of parliamentary representation in Europe was always opaque because there is no such thing that we could call a European demos; instead we have a loose collection of numerous national demoimanifesting little coherence and solidarity. Besides, the European Parliament was never allowed to control the European government. Paradoxically, this might be a blessing for an integrated Europe. The EP hosts ever more politicians determined to bring power back from Brussels to their own national capitols. They may have failed to take over the EP during the May elections, but they are now able to block important decisions within the Parliament and the Council, as Frans Timmermans has learned lately.
