Nigel Farage takes part in European election debate, 2014. Demoted/Dominic Dudley. All rights reserved.Skeptics discover European Union democratic deficits in many places, in Brussels, bureaucrats, in the absence of the European demos, in the European Parliament, or in elitist behavior. Unfortunately, all this talk--right or wrong—prevents our seeing promising democratic perspectives; a missed opportunity! We mustn’t forget to salute European democracy where it works.
For instance, a cornerstone of European Union democracy is the public representation of all member-states in the Councils of the European Union, and for the Eurozone, a special council, which is labeled the Eurogroup, comprising the 19 ministers of finance of the Eurozone member-states. These Councils embody the democratic legitimacy of the member-states in the exercise of European governance. Nation-state ministers, states-people, shuttle back and forth between their respective states on the one hand and the Councils of the European Union in Brussels on the other, facilitating a multi-nation European switchboard demoicracy.
Take note of the hectic political traffic between Athens and the Eurogroup in Brussels. After the Greek elections brought the Syriza party to power, the new Greek government wanted to re-negotiate the terms (cuts and reforms) of the financial aid Greece is receiving, in line with the promises made during the election campaign. Eventually, the finance ministers of the Eurogroup must agree upon any Greece amendment, including those states (Spain, Portugal, Estonia etc.) that had committed themselves to implementing similar conditions attached to the loans they received, supervised by the so-called Troika (European Commission, ECB and IMF).
