Chapter 9 Answer guidance

Q1) Why was the democratic deficit nature of the EEC not an issue of concern at its creation?

See section 9.2

  • The European Economic Community (EEC) was established in 1957 as a ‘special purpose association’.
  • It had been delegated a limited number of well-defined powers.
  • Integration was based on the elite-driven and technocratic ‘Monnet method’.
    • Strong, technical executive (Commission)
    • Weak, representative Parliamentary Assembly with consultative powers only
    • Inclusion of functional expertise
  • European integration enjoyed diffuse support.
  • Democracy was assured via the member states.
  • Legitimacy was based on output legitimacy, i.e. the strength of policy outcomes.
  • There was little interest in input legitimacy, i.e. the process of policy creation.
  • This has been termed ‘permissive consensus’ (Lindberg and Scheingold 1970: 41).
  • Interest in the Community’s democratic credentials only increased when:
    • The ECJ began to craft a more defined European legal order.
    • The Community began to act in more policy areas.
Back to top