The Novelty of the EU: From Common Market to Common Democracy

The purpose of this essay is to suggest that, if six or more democratic states decide to share sovereignty in order to prevent war, the international organisation, which they establish to this effect, should be democratically governed too. According to the prevailing theory of international relations, however, it is impossible for this premise to be true. The Westphalian system of international relations holds that democracy and the rule of law can only come to fruition within the boundaries of a sovereign state, whereas the relations between states belong to the domain of diplomacy. The idea that a common democracy could be created besides and above the national democracies of the member states, is discarded as an anomaly. Notwithstanding these theoretical objections, the EU is developing from a common market to a common democracy. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty established the common citizenship of the Union and foresaw the creation of a common currency. The 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam introduced the principle of democracy as a core value of the EU per se, while the 2009 Lisbon Treaty stipulates that the functioning of the EU shall be founded on representative democracy. This essay argues that the European Union has outgrown the Westphalian system of international relations and aspires to establish itself as a common democracy.