Legitimacy and Statehood of the European Union

This book examines the extent to which the frequently cited legitimacy deficit of the European Union may actually stem from factors other than those commonly identified in the relevant literature. The author argues that, given the scope of its sovereign powers and the degree of its institutional autonomy, the EU should already be evaluated according to the same standards of legitimacy that apply to democratic states. Rather than attributing its legitimacy deficit to formal legal arrangements, institutional intricacies, or the presumed ex ante absence of a European public sphere and identity, the author contends that it is primarily a consequence of insufficient politicization. Accordingly, the EU essentially satisfies all major structural criteria of a democratic state (polity), but suffers from the fact that these structures have so far not been filled with political life (politics). In particular, its traditional concordance- or consensus-based style of governance deprives citizens, in practice, of a genuine, visible, and credible choice between government and opposition. The author argues that this system should be replaced by a model of majoritarian democracy, not only to strengthen citizens’ direct influence but also to shift political discourse away from harmful structurally antagonistic conflicts toward constructive issue-based agonistic debates. Ultimately, this transformation could foster the emergence of a genuine European public sphere.