Parliament without a people

For any Parliament to function properly, it takes more than just an electorate to elect members every few years. It is at least as important to keep an eye on them once they are elected, and for this task it takes both public interest and continued media scrutiny. Both these elements are currently missing in Europe.

As opinion polls show, Europeans are far from passionate about European politics. When given the chance to vote on further integration, they usually vote against it. More than half a century of European Union politics has failed to create a European people, a demos. Consequently, there is no European public, either. Newspapers, radio, and TV programs are national affairs with limited international coverage.

A democracy is unlikely to flourish where there is no demos. And without a true democracy, even a Parliament full of best intentions can only be an empty shell at best. At worst, this so-called “European” Parliament only serves to undermine parliamentary democracy.

Already, the European Parliament is passing regulations for almost every aspect of life: from electric ovens to in-vitro fertilisation, from cable cars to intellectual property rights. If such regulations were introduced at the national level, at least there would be public debates on the merits of the proposals. If the same regulations get introduced via Brussels, bureaucrats, politicians and lobbyists can run the show almost undisturbed. This way, parliamentary democracy is gradually eroding, and Europe as a whole is becoming a much more bureaucratic and regulated place.

There is no doubt the European elections are lacking the glitz and glamour of the Eurovision song contest, but they are almost as pointless. Fairytales never happen in the European Union.