Can direct democracy solve the EU’s democratic deficit?
Civitas, 2 July 2010
Britain’s recent MPs expenses scandal provided a stark reminder of the need to install effective checks and balances to political power, writes Natalie Hamill. Speaking at a Civitas seminar earlier this week, Daniel Hannan, Conservative MEP, proposed that the increased use of direct democracy could prevent similar abuses of power in the future.
At present, over half of UK parliamentary seats are considered to be ‘safe’ and as a result many MPs are effectively immune from removal at election. ‘Safe seats’ encourage party loyalty, rather than ensuring that MPs consider their constituents a priority. Ambitious backbenchers must demonstrate party allegiance in order to be considered for ministerial posts, so the electorate is likely to be ignored if their interests contradict the will of their MP’s party (for example, calls for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty fell on deaf ears despite mass public support). The Direct Democracy campaign, founded by Hannan, argues that devolving political power to the local level is the best way to ensure that voters can genuinely hold their elected representatives to account.
Crucially, however, Hannan points out that reforming the UK political system would be futile unless the democratic deficit in the European Union is tackled too. Centralised power is not only concentrated in Westminster, but more than half of UK legislation currently originates from the unelected and unaccountable European Commission in Brussels.
The EU’s democratic deficit extends deep into its institutions. The Commissioners are unelected and unaccountable to the EU citizen. Furthermore, consider Catherine Ashton’s recent appointment as EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The British Baroness’s trajectory through the ranks of British politics to become the EU’s High Representative for foreign affairs and security policy (one of the most powerful posititions in the EU) has been nothing short of meteoric. She was appointed to the House of Lords before being sent to replace Peter Mandelson’s trade portfolio (so that Labour didn’t have to face a by-election by sending an MP), and then finally offered the EU Foreign Affairs brief as a consolation price for the UK after Tony Blair failed to secure the EU Council President post). Throughout her entire political career, Hannan reminded the audience, Ashton has never sought, nor received, a democratic mandate. Ashton may indeed be “the best person for the job”, as she and many in the EU frequently retort to those concerned about her lack of accountability, but having never sought a democratic mandate, we will never know if the peoples of Europe agree, and this damages her standing on the world stage.
The EU Citizens Initiative (ECI) is the latest effort by the 27 unelected Commissioners to placate the public into thinking they finally have some influence over decisions made in Brussels. Dutch MEP Jan-Derk Eppink (who is a member of the same grouping in the European Parliament as Hannan) criticised the Commission for its continued use of ‘gesture politics’. Speaking at an Open Europe event this week, Mr Eppink explained that despite the ‘gesture’ of giving EU citizens a voice, in reality it appears that every effort has been made to complicate the process. The Commission will review ECIs to decide if they are serious and within its ‘competence’, the Commission also has no legal obligation to act on them. Furthermore, an initiative must gain 1,000,000 signatures from across 9 member states, and the signatories must provide their social security number or passport number.The ECI’s potential as a mechanism for direct democracy is more limited than the Commission would have EU citizens believe.
The weakness of the ECI is symbolic of the Commission’s refusal to address or acknowledge the seriousness of the EU’s democratic deficit. Those who campaign for increased democracy in Brussels too often find their arguments slurred by the Eurocracy who refuse to be distracted from their path towards an “ever closer union”. Daniel Hannan has firsthand experience of the simplistic mudslinging often directed at those who voice critical arguments against the EU. Attacks from the Brussels ‘powerbase’ often biol down to: “well if you’re not in favour of further integration then you must be xenophobic”. When such illogical arguments are used repetitively, any hope for productive debate is lost. It is, Hannan observed, far easier to sneer at your opponent and stain his motives than to carefully consider your own principles. The EU needs to take a careful look at itself, because it stands accused of hypocrisy in continuing to claim that it strives to export democratic values beyond its borders, whilst avoiding any serious examination of its internal democratic failings.