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Stefaan De Rynck

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Stefaan De Rynck

Tag Archives: EU democracy

What kind of EU democracy is emerging?

10 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by Stefaan De Rynck in EU Politics, Leadership

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Bové, EU democracy, EU elections, Heller, Juncker, Schulz, Tsipras, Verhofstadt

All political party candidates for the European Commission Presidency are known since last Friday when the majority of European People’s Party delegates in Dublin designated Jean-Claude Juncker from Luxembourg as their top man. The social-democrats put forward the German Martin Schulz, who made his political career in the European Parliament. Former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt will defend the blue liberal colours, while the Greens opted for a Franco-German duo, with José Bové, the alter-globalizer farmer from France, and Ska Heller, a multi-lingual German MEP in her early thirties and one of the surprises coming out of these primaries, together with the far left Alex Tsipras who is a member of the Greek Parliament.

EU election result since 1979 - From far left to far right - Note: orange is eurosceptics; grey is non-affiliated, and dark blue is conservatives

EU election result since 1979 – From far left to far right – Note: orange/black is eurosceptics; grey is non-affiliated, and purple is conservatives

Discussions on the EU’s democratic deficit tend to be waged in terms of the presence (or not) of democracy in Brussels decision-making. But various types of democracy exist, and democracy itself is a relative category. On a side-note related to this, the Economist’s democracy index includes 13 of the 28 EU countries in the category “full democracies”, with 15 others such as Italy, Hungary and Romania are in the second-best “flawed democracy” group.

What does the process of appointing the candidates for Commission President and their profile tell us about the type of democracy that is emerging in the EU? Continue reading →

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The German Judge and the Italian Banker

13 Thursday Feb 2014

Posted by Stefaan De Rynck in EU Politics, Leadership, Public Policy

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EU democracy, Germany, Karlsruhe, Mario Draghi, OMT

Wednesday, on a flight from Brussels to Boston, the NSA agent sitting next to me had a transcript from a telephone conversation between Herbert Landau, who is a judge on Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court, and Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank.

For non-Euro buffs, the German Court said last week that Draghi’s offer in 2012 to buy as much government bonds on the financial markets as he saw fit, which is widely claimed to have brought down the Euro crisis from scary heights, was most likely illegal under European Union law. But the final ruling will only come after the European Union court had its say.

Angela Merkel: "I usually do whatever it takes to avoid Karlsruhe rulings."

Angela Merkel: “I usually do whatever it takes to avoid Karlsruhe rulings.”

Herbert Landau in Karlsruhe calls Frankfurt …

Herbert: “Can I speak to Mario Draghi?”
Mario: “Speaking.”
Herbert: “What did you mean when you said you would do whatever it takes to preserve the Euro?”
Mario: “That I was ready to defend the Euro, no matter what.”
Herbert: “Is it really your job to defend the Euro?”
Mario: “Excuse me?”
Herbert: “Is that within your mandate, defending the Euro?”
Mario: “I would think so, I am the Central Banker.”
Herbert: “I see. I am the Constitutional judge of your largest shareholder.”
Mario: “I am the lender of last resort. It must be within my mandate to put up the last defence when markets attack. Markets are driven by animal spirits. I need to tame them.”
Herbert: “I am a constitutional judge; my job is to tame you. Did you act within the limits of your mandate? Did you consider more limited approaches to taming those markets?”
Mario: “Either the lion eats me, or I eat the lion. And to kill a lion I prefer a bazooka.”
Herbert: “You could use a handgun for that, no?” Continue reading →

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Crisis, deficits and democracy

10 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by Stefaan De Rynck in EU Politics, Leadership

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democratic deficit, EU democracy, EU elections, Parliament

As the May European elections are approaching for the 28 member countries, it is time to revisit the famous or rather infamous “democratic deficit” in European Union decision-making.

Singing Power to the People in Ancient Greece

Singing Power to the People in Ancient Greece

How democracy works in the European Union has shifted considerably over the last four years, when the Greek crisis erupted at the same as the new Lisbon Treaty entered into force. The Treaty changed the governance of the EU and was hailed as progress for democracy. Rightly so: it gave the European Parliament major new powers as a legislator. And it reinforced the Parliament’s capacity to overlook policy implementation by the Commission.

But the 2010 crisis made sure that the political action went elsewhere. The countries of the Euro Area came together to create new finance mechanisms under the firm and joint control of their Treasurers. This replaced their initial response of giving bilateral support to Greece. The European Central Bank pumped money in the banks and filled its balance sheet with state debt. Continue reading →

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Elections, change and policy legacy

21 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by Stefaan De Rynck in EU Politics, Leadership, Public Policy

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EU democracy, European Commission President, European elections

European Union watchers are bracing themselves for the political excitement of the next seven weeks. All major political parties will nominate their candidate for the European Commission Presidency, the key executive post, with the European People’s Party going last at its Dublin conference on March 7. The Greens are organizing debates this week between their four candidates. In the liberal-democrat race Olli Rehn just pulled the plug on his presidential ambitions in favour of Guy Verhofstadt who is now certain of the nomination. The social-democrats will confirm Martin Schulz, the current Parliament President, as their candidate at the end of February.

European Parliament elections in May 2014

European Parliament elections in May 2014

Once all nominations are done, candidates and their parties will have two and a half months to spell out their manifestos to the electorate of the 28 countries in the run-up to the May elections. All of this is a first for the EU, in an attempt to stir up more debate and personalize clashes between different policy visions.

No doubt this will lead to promises for change. However, once in office in the Autumn, the new Commission President will face heavy constraints to change the policy course of Europe. The budget is fixed for the period 2014-2020, so the next Commission will have to execute what was already decided. Continue reading →

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Most recent posts

  • Crimea and Kosovo, one stands where one sits
  • What kind of EU democracy is emerging?
  • The German Judge and the Italian Banker

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