Fixing Europe’s problems: ‘less policies, more politics’

As the European Parliament approaches the one-year countdown to the 2009 Elections, a leading academic has emphasised the need to put politics back into the European arena.

The EU needs more politics to counteract its current problems, said Professor Simon Hix of the LSE, speaking at an April ‘Policy Dialogue’ organised by the European Policy Centre in Brussels. This has also been a key argument of the European Commission’s “Plan D,” which has consistently emphasised the need for better communication ahead of the elections. 

Hix highlighted a number of problems facing the EU, notably policy gridlock, low popular legitimacy and a democratic deficit. 

The cause of this “policy gridlock,” says Hix, is the fact that the “policy agenda of the EU has fundamentally changed”. The EU is now so firmly established, he argues, that the question defining the current period of EU integration is “what do we do with this thing we have created?” Current arguments on this question, claims Hix, lead to “lowest common denominator politics”.

 Hix also highlights the declining popular legitimacy of the EU, noting the growing gap between the European “elite” and the “mass vote”. For the latter group, the “enlightened despotism” of the EU is increasingly seen as “government in other people’s names,” says Hix. As proof of this argument, he highlights the “patent failure” of European Parliament elections to fire the political imagination of EU citizens. 

The solution to the current malaise, argues Hix, is to put politics firmly into the heart of European integration: “We are in an era when politics in Brussels is highly desirable”. Promoting “limited democratic politics” would lead to the formation of new political identities that would captivate the public imagination as well as give more “incentives for the media to cover the Brussels soap opera,” he claims. 

Hix outlines a number of ways to achieve this goal. First, he argues that the stakes in the EP elections must be raised on a “winner-takes-more” basis. This would stimulate a more genuine political competition between the EP parties and engage EU citizens, he believes. 

Secondly, he said the political actions of the European Council must be more transparent, notably by making all public legislative documents, amendments and minutes public. 

Finally, Hix argues that the future President of the EU should be elected by popular vote. Voters across Europe would thus be shown a list of hypothetical candidates and their policies, and candidates would visit different member states, setting out their political agenda. 

Policy reform is no longer the answer to Europe’s problems, Hix concluded. Instead, “more politics is needed” and the potential benefits of “limited democratic reform” are very high, he stressed. 

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