Das Konventsmodell: Hohere Legitimitat dur die EU-Entscheidungsfindung?

In: Osterreichische Zeitschrift fur Politikwissenschaft, Band 34, Heft 4, S. 381-394

Abstract

This contribution asks for ways of enhancing the legitimacy of EU decision-making at the highest political level. The Convention process to the EU Fundamental Rights Charter (2000) has been repeatedly highlighted as being particularly effective & democratic. A comparative policy-network-analysis on the Convention process & the policy process leading to its predecessor, the Community's Social Rights Charter (1989), is conducted on the basis of document analysis & expert-interviews. From a constructivist-institutionalist perspective, the specific institutional characteristics which led to the change of actors positions in the Convention process show to be responsible for its higher output-legitimacy. Deliberation, inclusion & transparency played an important role. However, referring to the concept of democratic legitimacy, the Convention process shows ambivalent results. The Convention clearly shows stronger patterns of democratic legitimacy than its precursor. Nevertheless, in both Charter processes, efficiency is based on informal network governance. The trade-off between input& output-legitimacy has not vanished in the Convention model. References. Adapted from the source document.