The “democratic deficit” of the European Union is a hackney catch-all term well known to the disdainers and sceptics of European construction and as well to some promoters of a more transparent and participatory EU, partisans of direct elections for all institutions or of the simplification of relations between institutions, etc.
At a time when the democratic divide between the EU and its peoples is being denounced as one factor of the breakdown of the European project, it is necessary to shed full light on the debates surrounding many of the democratic features of this hybrid construction, which sometimes struggles to be described as representative of and listening to its citizens.
This summary, written by Hamza Abbas, research assistant at the Jacques Delors Institute, presents the analyses and recommendations discussed during the symposium on the challenges that European construction must meet in terms of democratic dialogue, institutions and policy, organised by the Jacques Delors Institute on June 26, 2017 at the French National Assembly in partnership with Toute l’Europe, as part of the “More EU to overcome the crisis” project.