The Parliament Without A People: Examining Questions Of Legitimacy In The Context Of The European Parliament

• Author: Cian Murphy
• Pages: 113-124

Cork Online Law R eview 2006 11

Murphy, The Parl iament without a People:

Examining Questi ons of Legitimacy in the

Context of the Eur opean Parliament

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THE PARLIAMENT WITHOUT A PEOPLE: EXAMINING

QUESTIONS OF LEGITIMACY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Cian Murphy

This paper is a detailed treatment of the European Parliament. It

traces the parliament’s beginnings as the ‘poor relation’ of the European

institutions and examines the reasons behind its steady rise to relative

prominence in recent years. The Parliament’s initial difficulties in

establishing its legitimacy, as well as the fundamental compromises which

have shaped and perhaps inhibited its development are also analysed.

Finally, the author assesses the parliament’s current role, in a Europe

shocked by referendum defeats in France and the Netherlands and argues

that only greater parliamentary power can free Europe from the persistent

charge of having lost touch with ordinary Europeans. An empowered

parliament, he concludes, will win back the apathetic European electorate

and breathe new life into the European project.

A INTRODUCTION: EU ROPE DEPARTING, ALL ABOARD?

From its inception … the ‘European project’ has been troubled, even

bedevilled by the twin problem s of legitimacy and democracy … there

always was an element of deception – a kind of elite conspiracy – in the

actions of the p romoters of the project.1

The European project, whatever else it may be about, has always been

about the integration of Europe. This integration has been achieved by men

and women who “have both seemed sure that they had the right vision for the

future of Europe and have been profoundly worried about whether they were

being followed.”2 They were not. European policy takes a back seat in national

general elections, and a majority of European states do not require referenda

to ratify the successive treaties. Therefore the peoples of Europe have rarely

had a say in the direction that Europe has taken. Increasingly, when they are

asked, the answer is ‘no!’3

This essay will begin by asking the most basic question: Is the

European Parliament a validly constituted entity? It will examine the role of

the European Parliament within the European Union. Though the EU may

lack social legitimacy, the Parliament suffers from difficulties of democracy,

and this essay will show they are not illegitimate. As the Union has grown, so

too has its Parliament, largely due to the work of MEPs. This essay will

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1 Blondel, Sinnott & Svensson (1998), People and Pa rliament in the European Union

(Clarendon Press) , 3.

2 ibid.

3 Of 40 EU–related referendums from 1972–2003, th e anti–EU side won two between 1972–

1990, five in the 19 90’s, four between 2000–3, and two in quick succession in 2005 w hen the

French and Dutch rejected the Constitutional Treaty . Data: Hix (2005), The Political System

of the European U nion (Palgrave Macmillan), 196.