Towards a people's Europe : what role for parliaments in coming decades?

Abstract

Parliaments are central arenas for democratic representation, participation, deliberation, legislation and scrutiny within the EU’s multilevel political system. The European Parliament (EP), the only directly-elected EU institution, is representing European citizens at EU level and strengthens the democratic legitimacy of supranational decision-making and political control. However, these core representative institutions of European democracies have come under discernable pressure due to politicisation and populism. As a result, the European project is contested from within by Eurosceptic, extreme left and extreme right wing political parties in many national parliaments and the EP. Euro-scepticism has mushroomed in civil society, while a certain ideological vacuum at the centre of many national party systems is to be witnessed. Alongside the rising suspicion of experts, these represent phenomena which may undermine parliaments’ powers to function as key transmission belts for democratic renewal. Against this backdrop, this panel will discuss the contribution of parliamentarianism and democratic legitimacy to the future of Europe. It will focus on the link between representation, participation and European identity, while examining whether parliaments can still serve as democratic centres for European identity-building.