The public uninterest
GÜNTER VERHEUGEN's controversial public complaint about Germans' hesitation over the European Union's proposed expansion was part of a broader critique of the Union with which many EU governments, and many voters, would agree. He thought there was too little public involvement in a range of big EU decisions, in Germany at any rate. This theme of a “democratic deficit”, in Brussels jargon, is popular among critics of the Union. But it is rare for an EU commissioner to acknowledge it quite so bluntly. The lack of functioning democracy reflects in part the failings of the European Parliament, which is supposed to give Europe's peoples their say in Union affairs.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The public uninterest”
From the September 9th 2000 edition
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