EU democracy beyond participation: Building an EU political space

In the long history of the debates on the European Union’s democratic deficit, two prominent lines of argument can be distinguished: one is primarily concerned with strengthening elected institutions and the public-sphere conditions conducive to their well-functioning (the ‘public sphere’ argument), while the other rather aims at creating new channels for participation beyond the elected institutions (the ‘participation’ argument). The latter argument – which seeks to move beyond representative democracy in the EU – has long been made but has recently gained new impetus. This essay starts from an examination of the trajectory and components of the participation argument. Then, as a kind of response, I outline the logic of the public sphere argument and critically reflect upon its validity in the present times. Finally, I review a selection of institutional reforms and suggest how they might be evaluated from each perspective. Specifically, I consider the following proposals: pan-European referendums; citizens assemblies on EU legislative proposals; transnational lists for elections to the European Parliament; the direct election of members of the EU’s executive bodies; and a permanent Legislative Council of Ministers.