Events
Organisation
Clingendael European Studies Programme (CESP) i.c.w. WRR
Location
Clingendael Institute
Ronde-tafel seminar
'EU Legitimacy at the National Level'
30 november 2007
How to reconnect Europe to the citizens? How can national politicians discuss the EU beyond negative debates on subsidiarity, red lines or the costs of EU membership? On the occasion of the English translation of Rediscovering Europe in the Netherlands, a report by the Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) to which CESP-fellow Mendeltje van Keulen contributed, the Clingendael European Studies Programme hosted a round table seminar on 30 November.
Some 35 academics and policy-makers from institutes and universities across Europe gathered at Clingendael to hear prof.dr. Vivien Schmidt (Boston University, author of 'Democracy in Europe'), praise the WRR-report for giving insight in the general legitimacy problems, linked to the particularities of the Dutch case. In her key note speech, she described how member state governments struggle with the political and public discussion on European integration, in the wake of public anxiety on a diverse range of policy issues (immigration, inflation, welfare arrangements). The challenge is to initiate an appealing discourse on Europe, without seeking recourse to populism and polarisation. Politicisation in Brussels is perhaps encouraged by the new treaty arrangements for selecting the Commission President. But the main challenge lies at the national level.
Prof.dr. Brigid Laffan (Dublin University College) examined the issue from a comparative perspective. In Ireland, where eight referenda on EU issues have taken place, EU discussions are more lively and focused - however, as she warned: referendums are never to be taken lightly by national government - as the Dutch experience in 2005 demonstrated. An occasional referendum can only complement 'normal' day-to-day discussions on EU policies within Cabinet and parliament.
Recently, parliamentary involvement in EU issues has improved, although this is still a matter of members of the parliamentary Europe Committee and civil society organisations could be more involved. Constitutional checks and balances, as well as new forms of (deliberative and digital) democracy may also help in re-connecting EU politics with the citizens. But, as was concluded in the session chaired by prof.dr Beate Kohler-Koch (Mannheim University), a lot depends on the actual output that is delivered by the EU and the way politicians take responsibility for how EU cooperation works in practice.