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

ediscovering europe in the netherlands
the desires and views of the Dutch public are reflected in the decisionmaking
process is relevant to input legitimacy, whereas accountability
concerns the availability of sufficient information, debate and sanction
mechanisms of those responsible for policy. And finally, the identification
dimension, focuses on the connection that Dutch citizens have to the
European political system of which they are a part. Both individually and
in their mutual interrelationship, these four dimensions of legitimacy may
contribute to improving the legitimisation of eu policy in the Netherlands.
7.1.2 the urgency of a better legitimised eu policy in the
Netherlands
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The process of European integration still largely derives its legitimacy from
the economic performance of the internal market, the guarantees of continuing
macroeconomic stability within this large internal market and the
benefits of a situation of internal peace and stability stretching back more
than 50 years. Thanks to that economic performance, plus the fairly
limited impact of European integration on the day-to-day lives of Europe’s
citizens, the policy process was until recently left in the hands of experts
from the political, administrative and functional elites in Brussels and the
eu member states, who operated on the basis of tacit consent and the
general indifference of the electorate. These elites did not have to overly
concern themselves with the legitimisation of eu policy via the formal
European and national political lines of representation and accountability.
Since the 1990s, however, this permissive consensus on the part of
Europe’s citizens for European integration has come under pressure in
many eu member states. Rapid internationalisation, the processes of
continual broadening, deepening and enlargement of the eu and the emergence
of constitutional debates have contributed to a growing politicisation
of European issues. Not only has joint eu decision making become more
controversial, but it has also begun attracting the attention of more – and
often more assertive – citizens and social groups with a variety of views
and opinions. These citizens are concerned with issues such as the future
of the welfare state, employment, the democratic deficit and national identity
in a rapidly changing Europe. As a result, a growing need has arisen
both in the Netherlands and other eu member states for legitimisation via
processes of representation, accountability and identification, along with
the traditional legitimisation via output. Naturally, this also applies to the
legitimisation of eu policy within national states, especially as European
and national policy setting become more and more intertwined.
By and large, national politicians and policy makers in the eu member
states may find it difficult to deal with this new reality and its inherent