Rediscovering Europe in the Netherlands - St Antony's College ...

safeguards and direct citizen participation
Constitutional Court could quash legislation for which Parliament is
jointly responsible).
The rulings of constitutional courts in other countries frequently have
a major social impact. They often generate a lot of media attention that
sometimes emanates beyond national borders, as was the case with
German Constitutional Court proceedings related to European issues. The
independence of the judiciary vis-à-vis policy makers and politicians may
also be relevant, especially because the judiciary is seen as one of the most
trusted institutions by the Dutch public (European Commission 2006b,
Standard Eurobarometer 65). The fact that national politicians and policy
makers in a Constitutional Court could be responsible for aspects of eu
policy could consequently contribute to the legitimisation of eu policy.
Concluding remarks
Also with respect to horizontal safeguards in the Netherlands, there is the
risk that these safeguards will not encourage more involvement by citizens
and will thus not have the necessary positive effects on eu policy legitimisation.
These safeguards do, however, offer definite possibilities, especially
in view of the fact that these safeguards are relatively virgin territory in the
Dutch context. One specific advantage of these types of safeguards is that
they are less defensive in nature and therefore able to focus more clearly on
the linking function of national policy makers and politicians.
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4.2.5 safeguards for citizens
Finally, we now focus on the safeguards for citizens. These may be both
horizontal safeguards (in mutual relations between citizens) or vertical
safeguards (in relations with public authorities). These safeguards are in
fact far from new. The best example is the ability of Dutch citizens to
enforce certain rights and employ certain remedies accorded to them by
the eu through the national judiciary. This section examines how national
politicians and policy makers may ultimately become a link in eu policy
legitimisation in the area of ‘citizen safeguards’.
Results
The fact that the eu accords its citizens tangible rights and remedies does
not mean these citizens will actually ever exercise them. This is especially
true in the complex legal area of eu law, where citizens not only have to be
made aware of the existence of their rights and remedies, but also of the
content and meaning of specific norms that are relevant to them. For example,
a common debate concerns the rights of patients in one country to
receive medical treatment in other eu countries, often as a way of avoiding