and the role of regions within the European
context. The legal basis of the European Union
is an agreement between independent countries
that endows the Union with certain supra-national
competences. These competences are exercised within
a distribution of powers, that is almost classic for
democracy: a parliament versus an executive body.
This parliament is chosen directly by the European
constituents: the citizens are entitled to vote. In that
sense, from a strictly formal point of view, there
simply is no democratic deficit. This of course leaves
us with the practical question whether or not the
European citizen actually has sufficient opportunity
to exercise his influence on affairs that will eventually
concern him. This line of questioning approaches the
matter from a more material angle.
To me, on first thought, it seemed reasonable
to examine the virtual power and competences of
national parliaments and subsequently compare
those with the European parliament. This approach
would seem logical in view of sweeping statements
often made about the lack of power of the European
parliament in comparison with the national
parliaments. However, those making such statements,
for convenience sake, tend to ignore the fact, that
for a start there is a considerable variety in national
parliaments and their competences. Given this
variety, trying to make a general comparison with the
European parliament is certainly not going to clarify
the issue. Furthermore, the role of the European
parliament is obviously still in development, so it
is not quite fair to compare it with the already fully
developed national parliaments. And so, on second
thought, I prefer to let the question of the position
and influence of the European parliament pass and
approach the matter from the citizens' position.
The outcome of many studies has demonstrated
that the average citizen's attitude towards
democracy and politics is not one of idealism,
but rather of calculated self-interest. Essentially
he is mainly interested in decisions concerning
his own direct environment. He hardly cares
13 Zeeuws Tijdschrift 2006/7-8