Dilemas de legitimación del Parlamento Europeo

Fernando Barrientos del Monte, Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane

Abstract

The European Parliament is the only institution of the European Union in which members are elected directly by citizens. Nevertheless, the institutional architecture and the political system of the European Union turn the European Parliament into a politically weak institution. From the first time that the European Parliament was elected by direct voting in 1979, abstention has become one of the main characteristics of communitarian elections. From the concept of Europolity, this article analyzes the democratic deficit of the European Parliament, that is to say, the imbalance between their increasing powers and the legitimacy it obtains in the ballots. The most important dilemmas in the dynamics of democratization of the European Union are also identified.