ONE OF US and the European Union’s Problem with Democracy

By J.C. von Krempach, J.D. | May 28, 2014

It is rather late in the evening and I’m afraid I simply do not have the time tonight to write an in-depth commentary on the European Commission’s Soviet-style communication through which it informed the public that it was not going to follow up on the EU´s most successful citizens´ initiative, ONE OF US. I have read through the 28-page document, but it really isn´t worth reading, so I don´t recommend it. It simply represents a complete and disastrous failure of a bureaucratic structure to engage with the outside world. A case of intellectual autism, so to say.

When reading the document, at some point it occurred to me that I should carry out a simple word search to find out how often the Commission uses the word “carefully” in order to describe it´s own dealings with the petition. It seems that everything has been “carefully analyzed”…. “carefully calibrated” …. “carefully examined” …. etc. The paper is cracking full of such self-congratulatory phrases, and it appears that the Commission must be the most “careful” institution in the world, which makes its answer to Europe´s biggest citizens´ initiative in recent history immune against all intellectual, moral, political, or other criticism. And of course, “careful” is not the only word the Commission uses when it comes to praising itself.

But what is the result of all these “careful” examinations? In two words, what the Commission seems to be saying is that because the EU primary law (i.e., the EU Treaty, or the EU Fundamental Rights Charter) “explicitly enshrines human dignity, the right to life, and the right to the integrity of the person”, it is not necessary that those principles be reflected in its secondary legislation, let alone in its concrete actions. Now that is really brilliant! Europe´s citizens will be enthusiastic, won´t they? That is what they aspire to, isn’t it?

And of course, the Commission´s “rigorous” ethical commitments when funding stem-cell research projects (no projects are funded that are illegal in the country where they are carried out, or that are illegal in all 28 Member States) will certainly make a big impression on all readers. They are so compellingly explained that they simply don´t leave any room for doubts and criticism. How lucky we are to be ruled by such an awsomely wise and morally rigorous administration!

It is clear that the organizers of the ONE OF US petition will not accept this as an answer to their proposal: one doesn´t collect the signatures of nearly two million citizens to get this kind of declaration of moral bankruptcy in return.

In reality, this day marks a fundamental shift in the debate around ONE OF US. One may or may not agree with the initiative´s goals, but from now on what is at stake is not any more the abortion issue, but something even more fundamental. With today´s silly and misguided communication, the Commission has, with one single shot, sunk the Lisbon Treaty´s feeble attempt to introduce an element of democracy into the EU´s constitutional set-up.

Is anyone still surprised if citizens express frustration and contempt with the Brussels bureaucracy?

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter