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

introduction
1. Is there a problem of declining legitimacy of eu policy in the Netherlands?
2. If so, how can the political and social legitimisation processes of eu policy
in the Netherlands be improved?
The basic assumption regarding the improving of these legitimisation
processes in the Dutch context, can be found in the domestic links which
can help Dutch citizens relate better to eu policy. Two – preliminary –
comments are relevant here. Firstly, the wrr is not concerned with finding
remedies which foster public acceptance of existing Dutch government
eu policies, but instead with remedies that reinforce the legitimacy of
this policy. Put differently, stronger legitimisation may also mean that the
government finds itself forced to adapt the content and direction of Dutch
eu policy, as a result of greater citizen or civil society input. Secondly, the
wrr realises that adaptations within the Dutch context, as desirable as
they may be, will probably not be enough to actually increase the amount
of democratic content regarding eu decision-making processes. This
would also require incentives and reforms at the level of European institutions
and procedures, such as the improved co-ordination of actual European
(transnational) political party positions in the European Parliament,
more transparent voting procedures and deliberation by the European
Council, a more open election process for choosing the president of the
European Commission as well as more decisive control by the European
Parliament over the functioning of the European Commission. 4 In its
recommendations, however, the wrr limits itself to proposals for
improvement at the national level.
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1.3.2 approach and structure of chapters
Actors within the national political arena and administration (government,
Parliament, political parties and political elites) offer the most
natural link to a nation’s citizens. This is why many proposals to reinforce
the legitimacy of eu policy in the Netherlands focus on these actors.
However, it is precisely in the eu policy field where we find a ‘perverse
incentive structure’ which discourages politicians and government
officials from effectively fulfilling this desirable linking function. The
multilevel structure of the eu, reinforces the tendency of politicians and
government officials to claim the benefits of European co-operation as
their own achievements, but disown responsibility for any disadvantages
and/or they simply blame them on ‘Brussels’. Remedies aimed at improving
the functioning of politics and administration will accordingly have
to be judged primarily on the contribution they make in breaking through
these perverse incentives.