scholarly journals Traktat Lizboński a wspólnotowe wartości europejskie

2018 ◽  
pp. 249-264
Author(s):  
Maciej Banaszak
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
National Parliaments ◽  
Single European Act ◽  
General Elections ◽  
History Of ◽  
Formal Solutions

An issue raised more and more frequently in political, as well as scientific discourse in the context of the European Union, is “democratic deficit”. At the time, EU is perceived as an institution guaranteeing the preservation of democratic values in Europe and promoting them both on the continent and beyond. This article discusses both points of view, with emphasis placed on the democratic deficit aspect, measures undertaken to eliminate the negative consequences of the process, as well as the history of the concept: starting from the single European Act, through general elections to the European Parliament, and formal solutions leading to the gradual increase of EU powers. It is assumed in the article that the problem of democratic deficit has persisted in the European Union, especially since several changes were introduced to the political system of EU after The Treaty of Lisbon. As result, the key question that must be answered is whether under the provisions of the Treaty the EU will strengthen its democratic legitimacy. This article attempts to provide an answer, analyzing the role of national parliaments in the new institutional and normative reality and in the context of the democratic legitimacy deficit.

1. The origins of the European Union and EU law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elspeth Berry ◽  
Matthew J. Homewood ◽  
Barbara Bogusz
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Single European Act ◽  
Charter Of Fundamental Rights ◽  
History Of ◽  
Complete Series ◽  
Explanatory Text ◽  
Treaty Of Rome ◽  
The Eu

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. This chapter discusses the history of the European Union. It covers the historical rationale for the EU; the aims of the EU; the four stages of economic integration; economic and political difficulties; expansion of membership; institutional developments; legal developments; closer European integration; the Treaty of Rome (1957), the Single European Act (1986); the Treaty on European Union (1992); the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997); the Charter of Fundamental Rights; the Treaty of Nice (2001); the Treaty of Lisbon (2007); and the potential process for and impact of ‘Brexit’.

National Parliaments and the European Union

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin Auel
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Parliaments ◽  
Direct Role ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Eu ◽  
The Way

The role and position of national parliaments in European Union (EU) affairs have undergone a long, slow, and sometimes rocky, but overall rather remarkable, development. Long regarded as the victims of the integration process, they have continuously strengthened their institutional prerogatives and have become more actively involved in EU affairs. Since the Lisbon Treaty, national parliaments even have a formal and direct role in the European legislative process, namely, as guardians of the EU’s subsidiarity principle via the so-called early warning system. To what extent institutional provisions at the national or the European level provide national parliaments with effective means of influencing EU politics is still a largely open question. On the one hand, national parliaments still differ with regard to their institutional prerogatives and actual engagement in EU politics. On the other hand, the complex decision-making system of the EU, with its multitude of actors involved, makes it difficult to trace outcomes back to the influence of specific actors. Yet it is precisely this opacity of the EU policymaking process that has led to an emphasis on the parliamentary communication function and the way national parliaments can contribute to the democratic legitimacy of the EU by making EU political decisions and processes more accessible and transparent for the citizens. This deliberative aspect is also often emphasized in approaches to the role of national parliaments in the EU that challenge the territorially defined, standard account of parliamentary representation. Taking the multilevel character of the EU as well as the high degree of political and economic interdependence between the member states into account, parliamentary representation is conceptualized as extending beyond the nation-state and as shared across the EU, with a strong emphasis on the links between parliaments through inter-parliamentary cooperation and communication as well as on the representation of other member states’ citizens interests and concerns in parliamentary debates. Empirical research is still scarce, but existing studies provide evidence for the development of an increasingly dense web of formal and informal interactions between parliaments and for changes in the way national parliamentarians represent citizens in EU affairs.

7. Democracy in the European Union

2018 ◽  
pp. 146-164
Author(s):  
Richard Corbett
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Parliaments ◽  
Charter Of Fundamental Rights ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Democratic Systems

This chapter examines the democratic credentials of the European Union by asking whether it matches some key features common to many modern democratic systems: representation (whether legislation is adopted by representative assemblies); separation of powers; the executive’s democratic accountability; respect for fundamental rights; and whether competing political parties offer voters genuine choice. The chapter also clarifies some key concepts and terms such as bicameralism, democratic deficit, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Furthermore, it considers an alternative to representative democracy: the organizing of referenda to settle issues. Finally, it discusses the EU’s provisions for helping national parliaments scrutinize the participation of their government in EU institutions.

What Happened to Fortress Europe?: External Trade Policy Liberalization in the European Union

1998 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian T. Hanson
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
External Trade ◽  
Single European Act ◽  
History Of ◽  
Fortress Europe ◽  
Severe Recession ◽  
National Trade ◽  
Trade Measures

In an era when many fear the breakdown of the global trading order through the emergence of relatively closed regional trading blocs, assessing the effects of European integration on external European Union trade is particularly important. Surprisingly, despite a severe recession accompanied by record levels of unemployment, a history of increasing protection under similar economic circumstances, and alarming predictions about “fortress Europe,” external trade policy in the region has liberalized in recent years. Prominent trade policy explanations emphasizing changing interest group demands or changing ideas of policymakers are inadequate to account for this significant change in trade policy. Instead, much of this liberalization can be best understood as an unforeseen consequence of the Single European Act. Completing the single market undermined the effectiveness of national trade measures and made it difficult to enact new trade barriers, thus producing a liberal bias in European policy.

The Democratic Deficit of the European Union: Towards Closer Cooperation between the European Parliament and the National Parliaments

1994 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karlheinz Neunreither
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
Central Authority ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Parliaments ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Democratic Norms ◽  
The Eu

During Recent Years, The Notion of The Democratic deficit has become, together with subsidiarity, or transparency, one of the most popdar subjects for conferences on European Union. While almost everyone seems to agree that a democratic deficit exists, it is far from certain that there is a general understanding of what is meant by it.The most radical meaning would be that the European Union (EU) as such is undemocratic and that its decision-making does not correspond to democratic norms. Quite often when national governments have to explain unpopular decisions of the EU, responsibility for these uncomfortable situations is attributed to a faceless monster, the ‘Brussels bureaucracy’. The assumption is that a very strong central authority exists which embodies the power of decision-making and that democratic accountability of this central authority either does not exist or at least is not sufficiently guaranteed. In other words, the EU institutional system does not comply with democratic norms. This is by far the most extreme definition of a democratic deficit.

1. The origins of the European Union and EU law

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-52
Author(s):  
Elspeth Berry ◽  
Matthew J. Homewood ◽  
Barbara Bogusz
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Single European Act ◽  
Charter Of Fundamental Rights ◽  
History Of ◽  
Complete Series ◽  
Explanatory Text ◽  
Treaty Of Rome ◽  
The Eu

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. This chapter discusses the history of the European Union. It covers the historical rationale for the EU; the aims of the EU; the four stages of economic integration; economic and political difficulties; expansion of membership; institutional developments; legal developments; closer European integration; the Treaty of Rome (1957), the Single European Act (1986); the Treaty on European Union (1992); the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997); the Charter of Fundamental Rights; the Treaty of Nice (2001); the Treaty of Lisbon (2007); and the potential process for and impact of ‘Brexit’.

The Paradox of Integration: Habermas and the Unfinished Project of European Union

Politics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shivdeep Singh Grewal
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Parliaments ◽  
Ethical Pluralism ◽  
Post War ◽  
Communicative Power

In a recent article Jürgen Habermas (1999) highlighted the potential for the European Union to act as a vehicle for the extension of democratic governance beyond the nation state, a project aimed at limiting the socially corrosive impact of globalisation. Yet this position appears paradoxical as the European Union itself exacerbates a major aspect of globalisation: the emasculation of national parliaments known as the ‘democratic deficit’. This paradox can be understood by analysing the dynamics of post-war European integration through the lens of Habermasian social theory: EU evolution can lead either to the colonisation of the lifeworld by market and administrative subsystems (as with the democratic deficit), or to a process of lifeworld rationalisation conducive to pan-European solidarity and democracy. The latter of these tendencies could be encouraged through ‘procedural democracy’: this would institutionalise the conditions by which independent associations in European civil society, channelling their ‘communicative power’ through parliament, might reassert control over the two subsystems. In order to retain legitimacy, procedural EU democracy would have to link existing legislatures to the European Parliament, while citizenship would combine national and civic components. Hence the European Union would be more able than the nation-state to combine universal notions of justice with ethical pluralism.

scholarly journals The Evolution of the Role of the National Parliaments in the Treaties of the Europian Union

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Pranvera Beqiraj (Mihani)
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Maastricht Treaty ◽  
Lisbon Treaty ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Parliaments ◽  
Single European Act ◽  
Union Governance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Treaty Of Amsterdam

This paper elaborates the evolving role of national parliaments in the different stages of the European integration process. The Review begins with the first stage (the foundation of the European Union) where national parliaments showed no or little interest in the matters of Community, and then the impact of Single European Act, following the first changes in the Maastricht Treaty, through the two Declarations attached to it and then the Protocol to the Treaty of Amsterdam. Finally the paper focuses on the changes and innovations presented in the Lisbon Treaty which will enhance the role of national parliaments in the European Union governance. For this purpose, the paper analyzes chronologically the rights that national parliaments had before the Lisbon Treaty and the new role of national parliaments after the Lisbon Treaty came into force.

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