EUs Democratic Surplus

International institutions have often suffered the aggravating description of being in ’democratic deficit’ among which the European Union has equally occurred, but with an increasing public awareness of political affairs, there is hardly any doubt that bureaucratic illnesses need immediate treatment. Being a cluster of democracies, the very absence of this characteristic in the institution itself appears rather self-contradictory.
The ‘democratic deficit’ carries with it a legacy of legitimate decline and has, fortunately, resulted in the European Citizens Initiative (ECI) introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon, an answer to the constant interpellation by citizens in an information age.
The process itself reflects the dominant role of the internet which proves to be a direct tool in diplomatic relations as ordinary citizens, a million of them, now posses the possibility of participating in the implementation of laws, a unprecedented progress towards direct democracy.
"not less than one million citizens who are nationals of a significant number of Member States may take the initiative of inviting the Commission, within the framework of its powers, to submit any appropriate proposal on matters where citizens consider that a legal act of the Union is required for the purpose of implementing the Treaties." (http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/10/116&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en)
The quarrels regarding the sufficient number of support the ECI will need among member states to attain adequate legitimacy witnesses the diffusion of power as it seems to emphasise the delicate balance between public influence and political latitude.
However, MEPs, through which ordinary citizens have a voice, insist on ‘’public hearing as the appropriate filter’’ in the implementation of law and policy proposals and, thus, represents, hopefully, enough pressure to influence the outcome.
Nevertheless, there remains doubt about efficient results, evident in the belief that only governments posses the power to truly change structures within the EU.
No matter what the ECI will, finally, entail of results, the initiative itself represents a great deal of what The New Diplomacy is fundamentally all about. Shifting from predominant bilateral negotiations between states to multilateral consultations and summits, the ECI embraces public opinion as a link in decision-making and creates hope for further public engagement in the future.
International regimes, whose transparency is often in question, experience more pressure than ever before from interest groups, NGOs and civil society to a degree that makes them difficult to ignore.

In an era of growing economic interdependence where decisions on top have increasing influence in every corner of the world- or Europe at least, public participation and influence ought to be a matter of course and political processes should, thus, not be kept from the political agenda.
Additionally, more than being a public diplomacy tool, it invests in direct participation by citizens within the EU and hopefully, the discourse the ECI represents will amplify and obtain greater recognition in other international institutions whose accountability is equally important.
It is ’the power of people’, a power that deserves more attention than ever before.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11773647

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/10/116&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2009-0389+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN