Democratic Legitimacy in the European Union and Global Governance

This book addresses one of the most relevant challenges to the sustainability of the European Union (EU) as a political project: the deficit of citizens’ support. It identifies missing elements of popular legitimacy and makes proposals for their formal inclusion in a future Treaty reform, while assessing the contribution that the EU may make to global governance by expanding a credible democratic model to other international actors. The contributors offer perspectives from law, political science, and sociology, and the 15 case studies of different aspects of the incipient European demos provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of these pertinent questions. The edited volume provides a truly interdisciplinary study of the citizens’ role in the European political landscape that can serve as a basis for further analyses of the EU’s democratic legitimacy. It will be of use to legal scholars and political scientists interested in the EU’s democratic system, institutional setup and external relations.

• European demos
• European political integration
• European identity
• citizen involvement
• Citizenship of the Union
• citizens' initiative
• Charter of Fundamental Rights
• civil society organizations
• participatory governance tools
• European economic governance
• cultural integration
• models of external governance
• political participation
• european union politics
• democracy

“This book is an important contribution to the debate on the European Union’s future as a democratic and supranational polity. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the most serious challenges facing the EU in this regard today, but also explores different options for strengthening the EU’s democratic credentials and helps create a European demos to sustain the EU polity. It should be interesting reading for scholars as well as practitioners and any citizen interested in the future of the EU.” (Dr. Alberto Priego, Universidad Pontificia de Comillas-ICADE, Spain)

“This book offers a timely and insightful analysis about the theories and realities of democratic participation in Europe. Despite all the buzz around the so called EU democratic deficit, the EU offers many, yet underused, avenues for civic participation, including via national parliaments, the Charter, ECIs, and public consultations. At a time of unprecedented turmoil in Europe, the challenge ahead is to extend equivalent levels of transparency, participation and inclusiveness to the EU economic and fiscal governance.” (Professor Alberto Alemanno, NYU School of Law, USA)

“In these times of superimposed crises (economic-financial, institutional, of refugees), the EU must improve its mechanisms of democratic legitimization. This is the only way to change from a technocratic and functional – or rather dysfunctional, due to its slow and complex decision-making procedures – to a project anchored in public participation and support. This book is a timely analysis of the instruments for citizen participation that might lead an active citizenry to acquire a feeling of collective ownership of the European project.” (Professor José Luis de Castro, University of the Basque Country, Spain)

• School of Law, University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain

  Beatriz Pérez de las Heras

Beatriz Pérez de las Heras is Professor of European Union Law at the University of Deusto, Spain, where she holds the Jean Monnet Chair on European Integration. She is currently Editor-in-Chief of Cuadernos Europeos de Deusto, and Academic Coordinator of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on European Union Law and International Relations. 

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