Does the European Union have a democratic deficit, and who holds the sovereignty?

Whether the EU has a democratic deficit is a question people answer differently, because they mean different things by democracy. Opinions differ as to whether the EU has a deficit at all, or how to fix it if it does. The debate goes back to the late 1970s, and it partly led to the European Parliament being directly elected from 1979.

Critics point to several things. Turnout at European elections fell at every vote from 1979 to a low of 42.54% in 2014, before rising in 2019. Voters often treat these elections as "second order", using them to judge their national governments rather than EU policy. Scholars such as Follesdal and Hix list five issues, including a weak Parliament, no genuine European elections and policy made without an electoral mandate.

Defenders answer differently. Some scholars, such as Moravcsik, argue that the EU draws legitimacy from its member states, because their democratically elected governments take part in decisions through the Council. Majone argues that the EU is essentially a regulatory body whose non-elected institutions, like independent central banks, are legitimised by expertise and effectiveness rather than direct elections.

Sovereignty is the other half of the argument. Eurosceptics hold that integration undermines national sovereignty, while supporters speak of pooled sovereignty: countries voluntarily binding themselves by treaty to a supranational organisation. The scholar Dieter Grimm argues that no state is sovereign in the sense it was before the Second World War.