Is the EU undemocratic?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/13/is-the-eu-undemocratic-referendum-reality-check

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The claim

Most Eurosceptics can agree on at least one thing: the EU is an undemocratic superstate forcing pointless diktats on the peoples of Europe.

Leading leave campaigners, Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Gisela Stuart, have described the EU as “a dysfunctional bureaucracy that has no proper democratic oversight”.

Some reluctant remainers take it as self evident that the EU is not a democracy. When Jeremy Corbyn voted against the Maastricht treaty in 1993, he declared it was because the EU had handed control to “an unelected set of bankers”. More recently the Labour leader has said the EU has “always suffered from a serious democratic deficit”.

EU insiders have spent more than a generation fretting about the so-called democratic deficit – a term coined by the British political scientist David Marquand in 1979.

Is the EU really undemocratic?

Unlike the United Nations or the World Trade Organisation, only democracies can join the European Union. In theory, EU member states that slide back on democratic standards can be sanctioned, although this is easier said than done.

But aren’t a bunch of unelected bureaucrats in charge?

Actually, they aren’t. When people talk about “the unelected bureaucrats of Brussels”, they usually mean the European commission. The commission is an organisation like no other: more than a civil service but less than a government. Composed of 28 commissioners – one from each country – the commission drafts, enforces and monitors EU laws. But it does not pass laws.

That does not mean the commission is not powerful: the EU competition commissioner can block mergers and fine multinational companies staggering sums computer chip maker Intel was fined a record €1.06bn (then £852m) for anti-competitive practices. But these powers rest on treaties and laws decided by EU governments. Similarly when it comes to striking trade agreements, the commission’s powers are restricted. The EU trade commissioner negotiates on a mandate drawn up by EU member states – the opening of controversial TTIP talks with the US was based on a unanimous decision by EU member states. If TTIP survives, it can only enter into force with the approval of governments and the European parliament.

The commission cannot foist laws upon EU member states. For example, the commission spent eight years trying to get EU countries to agree to a law on cleaning up Europe’s contaminated soils, but eventually withdrew the bill in the face of an immovable blocking majority, which included the UK.

Who really makes laws?

EU laws are agreed by two institutions: the council of ministers, comprising ministers from 28 EU governments and the European parliament. The European council, EU leaders meeting for regular late-night summits, plays an increasingly important role in setting the agenda.

Isn’t Britain always being outvoted?

One of the biggest gripes of Eurosceptics is the extension of qualified-majority voting, which allows the British government to be outvoted. A swathe of EU policies are now decided by these weighted-majority votes, such as environment, agriculture and transport. More sensitive policies, including tax, defence and foreign policy, have to be agreed by unanimity.

Under QMV, a law passes if it is backed by 16 out of 28 countries that make up at least 65% of the EU population. The UK has 13% of the EU population, so gets a 13% vote share.

Research by the London School of Economics found that the UK was on the winning side 87% of the time between 2009-15. So the British government does have to accept some EU decisions it didn’t vote for. One of the most high-profile losses in recent years, was when the chancellor, George Osborne, was outvoted on an EU law to restrict bankers bonuses. In this case, more than three quarters of the British public, including 68% of Conservative voters, supported the EU proposal.

Is the European parliament just a talking shop?

MEPs have been directly elected since 1979, although voter turnout has been on a downward trend ever since.

Many British MEPs argue they have more power to shape EU law than their Westminster colleagues. British Labour MEP Richard Corbett contends that the House of Commons is a “rubber stamp parliament” when it comes to shaping legislation: “It is headline news if [the Commons] amends a government bill, whereas here … there is scarcely a piece of legislation that will get through without being amended.”

The European parliament also has the power to dismiss the commission and approves the appointment of the politicians who lead it. Since 2014, MEPs have chosen who gets to be president of the commission, although that extension of the parliament’s power has not filled EU leaders with joy.

Despite these powers, the parliament does not inspire voters. Barely one third of British voters bothered to turn out in the 2014 elections and only one in 10 can name their MEP. The parliament is increasingly influential, but has a problem in connecting to its electorate.

Doesn’t Westminster get a say?

National parliaments can also throw a spanner in the works if they don’t like an EU law. If one third of national parliaments oppose a draft law, the commission must review it, a procedure known as the yellow card. If more than half of national parliaments oppose a law, this could force a vote in the European parliament or council, (the orange card). In his February reform deal, the prime minister, David Cameron, persuaded EU leaders to introduce a red card, meaning the commission would be forced to adapt or drop the law if more than half of national parliaments objected. The yellow card has only been used twice, the orange card has never been used and the red card will only come into force if the UK votes to remain in the EU.

Is this as good as it gets?

The EU is not perfect. Voter turnout has been declining for years and public approval of the European project has fallen in five of the six largest member states, according to the latest Pew Research Centre survey. Large numbers of people are unhappy with the EU’s handling of the economy and migration crisis.

If the EU does have a democratic deficit, that is because it is made up of countries with their own problems with public engagement in politics. Plus governments have a habit of blaming “Brussels” when things go wrong, which feeds the idea of an unelected, untamed bureaucracy. As one senior EU official puts it: “Anything you like you claim for yourselves and anything you don’t like you blame on Brussels.”

Some believe the gulf between the EU and voters can be filled by more Europe-wide democracy. Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, has called for a directly elected European commission president. Others, such as the former European council president Herman Van Rompuy, have argued that direct elections would be meaningless because, for example, a Polish conservative would not vote for a Luxemburger.

There are easier ways to give British voters more control over EU law. The Electoral Reform Society thinks the UK parliament could play a bigger role in holding the EU to account, by emulating the Danish approach to the EU. In Denmark, MPs question their ministers and give them a negotiating mandate before they go to European councils, whereas in the UK ministers inform parliament what happened afterwards. As the council is the most powerful part of the EU’s decision-making machine, this could have more impact than Cameron’s red card.

Verdict: no dictatorship, but no democratic idyll

The idea that laws are dictated from Brussels by unelected bureaucrats is simply wrong. In fact, EU laws have to pass high hurdles before they get onto the British statute book. The British government has considerable clout in shaping those laws despite the growth of qualified-majority votes.

When leave campaigners talk about laws made by Brussels, what they mean is “laws made by the EU’s directly elected governments and more often than not the European parliament through the co-decision procedure”. Not as snappy, but more accurate.

But the EU does have problems. Voters mistrust the EU and are unfamiliar with its unusual structure and multiple presidents. If the UK votes to stay, parliament could take steps to close that gap. The Electoral Reform Society concluded: “The EU has many serious democratic flaws. But the deficit can be tackled.”