Legitimacy and the European Union: the contested polity

Book abstract:

Since Maastricht, the problem of EU legitimacy has emerged as a growing concern. This text integrates existing work on the 'democratic deficit' with emergent literature on the EU as a new kind of polity. It argues that existing approaches to the legitimacy crisis are rooted in statist categories that poorly fit EU reality. The contributors show that the EU is increasingly emerging as a legitimate framework for political contestation in Europe and that the interaction of identities in Europe - regional, national and European - has reinforced EU legitimacy.

Individual sections focus on policy areas, institutions and identity politics. Chapters include: EU legitimacy and the 'defensive' reaction to the single European market; Unity-in-diversity: cultural policy and EU legitimacy; Reconciliation and legitimacy: foreign relations and enlargements of the EU; Political parties and the problem of legitimacy; National parties and the contestation of Europe; The European Parliament and EU legitimacy; EU citizenship: implications for identity and legitimacy; National identity and EU legitimacy in France and Germany; and Political rhetoric and the legitimation of the EU.

Two main conclusions are drawn. First, while Europeans do not strongly identify with the EU, they increasingly recognise it as a framework for politics alongside existing national and subnational structures. Second, while the EU lacks central democratic institutions, with little enthusiasm being displayed for the European Parliament elections, the integration process has spawned significant informal and pluralist forms of representation. Rethinking recognition and representation outside the context of the nation state points to important actual and potential sources of EU legitimacy.

Thomas Banchoff is Assistant Professor of Government at Georgetown University, USA and Mitchell P. Smith is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Middlebury College USA. Other contributors are drawn from both European and American Universities

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