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

Tijdschriftenbank Zeeland

Zeeuws Tijdschrift | 2006 | | pagina 15