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Rediscovering Europe in the Netherlands Rediscovering Europe 31-10-2007 10:18 Pagina 2 Rediscovering Europe 31-10-2007 10:18 Pagina 1 Rediscovering Europe in the Netherlands Rediscovering Europe 31-10-2007 10:18 Pagina 2 The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (wrr) was established on a provisional basis in 1972. It was given a formal legal basis under the Act of Establishment of June 30, 1976. The present term of office runs up to December 31 2007. According to the Act of Establishment, it is the Council’s task to supply, in behalf of government policy, scientifically sound information on developments which may affect society in the long term, and to draw timely attention to likely anomalies and obstacles, to define major policy problems and to indicate policy alternatives. The Council draws up its own programme of work, after consultation with the Prime Minister, who also takes cognisance of the cabinet’s view on the proposed programme. Rediscovering Europe in the Netherlands is an extensive summary of the Council’s report Europa in Nederland, Reports to the government nr. 78, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press 2007 (isbn 978 90 5356 996 2). This report was completed under the responsibility of the seventh Council (2003-2007), which at the time had the following composition: prof. dr. W.B.H.J. van de Donk (chairman) prof. mr. dr. L. Hancher prof. dr. P.A.H. van Lieshout prof. dr. P.L. Meurs prof. dr. B. Nooteboom prof. dr. J.L.M. Pelkmans prof. dr. ir. G.H. de Vries prof. dr. P. Winsemius Executive director: prof. dr. A.C. Hemerijck Deputy-director: dr. R.J. Mulder Lange Vijverberg 4-5 P.O. Box 20004 2500 EA ’s-Gravenhage Tel. +31 70 356 46 00 Fax =31 70 356 46 85 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: http://www.wrr.nl Rediscovering Europe 31-10-2007 10:18 Pagina 3 SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL FOR GOVERNMENT POLICY Rediscovering Europe in the Netherlands Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 2007 Rediscovering Europe 31-10-2007 10:18 Pagina 4 Cover illustration : © wrr Cover design: Studio Daniëls, The Hague Lay-out: Het Steen Typografie, Maarssen isbn 978 90 5356 262 8 nur 741 © WRR/Amsterdam University Press, The Hague/Amsterdam 2007 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. Rediscovering Europe 31-10-2007 10:18 Pagina 5 inhoudsopgave contents Summary 9 Zusammenfassung 14 Résumé 20 Preface 27 1Introduction 31 1.1 Background and reason for the report 31 1.2 The government request for recommendations and the perspective of the wrr 32 1.2.1 The government request for recommendations 32 1.2.2 The wrr’s perspective 33 1.3 Design of the report 36 1.3.1 Objective, central questions and limitations 36 1.3.2 Approach and structure of chapters 37 5 2Diagnosis 41 2.1 Introduction 41 2.2Legitimisation of European decision making in eu member states 41 2.2.1 Preliminary remarks 41 2.2.2Four sources of legitimacy 43 2.2.3 Democratic and constitutional approaches 45 2.3Changes in the legitimisation of European policy 47 2.3.1The traditional method of legitimisation 47 2.3.2The traditional legitimisation method under pressure 51 2.4Changes in the Dutch legitimisation of eu policy 56 2.4.1The traditional method of legitimisation 56 2.4.2The traditional method of legitimisation under pressure 59 2.5 Conclusion 68 3Politics and administration 73 3.1 Introduction 73 3.2 The government 75 3.3 Parliament 78 3.3.1 Parliament in relation to the government 78 3.3.2Direct link between Parliament and European institutions 81 3.4Political parties 82 3.5 Conclusion 85 Rediscovering Europe 31-10-2007 10:18 Pagina 6 rediscovering europe in the netherlands 4Safeguards and direct citizen participation 91 4.1 Introduction 91 4.2 Safeguards 91 4.2.1Definition of safeguards 91 4.2.2 The Netherlands and safeguards 93 4.2.3 Safeguards operating between the eu and national levels 95 4.2.4Safeguards within the Netherlands 98 4.2.5 Safeguards for citizens 103 4.3Direct citizen participation: Direct, deliberative and e-democracy 105 4.3.1 Introduction 105 4.3.2 Preferenda instead of referenda 105 4.3.3Deliberative forms of citizen participation 111 4.3.4 Conclusion 114 4.4 Conclusion 115 5Civil society 119 5.1 Introduction 119 5.2 Civil society and its relationship to politicians, government officials and citizens 121 6 5.2.1 Civil society in relation to politicians and government officials 121 5.2.2 Civil society and its relationship to citizens 123 5.3 Civil society involvement in eu policy in the Netherlands 124 5.3.1 The logic of civil society action and the effects of sectoral ‘segmentation’ 124 5.3.2 Opportunities even so? 126 5.4 Political and administrative perspectives 128 5.4.1 Introduction 128 5.4.2 Removing inherent obstacles 128 5.4.3 Openness to initiatives from civil society 130 5.5 Conclusion 132 6News media 137 6.1 Introduction 137 6.2A triangular relationship between the media, politicians, and policy makers and citizens 138 6.3The Dutch media’s involvement with eu policy 139 6.3.1 State of affairs 139 6.3.2 Opportunities 142 6.4Perspectives for politicians and policy makers 143 6.4.1Strategic role for the Prime Minister 143 6.4.2 Preferenda 144 6.4.3 Internet 145 6.5 Conclusion 146 Rediscovering Europe 31-10-2007 10:18 Pagina 7 contents 7Strengthening the legitimacy of Dutch eu policy: Conclusions and recommendations 151 7.1 Background and urgency 151 7.1.1 Background 151 7.1.2The urgency of a better legitimised eu policy in the Netherlands 152 7.2 Opting for vital policy 154 7.3Better legitimisation at the level of the political system 157 7.3.1 Introduction 157 7.3.2Centralised strategy on eu policy 158 7.3.3 Preferenda 159 7.3.4 Constitutional safeguards 161 7.4Improved legitimisation at the eu policy domain level 163 7.4.1 Introduction 163 7.4.2Prioritisation and parliamentary scrutiny reservation 163 7.4.3 Openness to contributions from civil society 164 7.5Conclusion: Over to politicians and policy makers 165 Bibliography 169 7 Rediscovering Europe 31-10-2007 10:18 Pagina 8 rediscovering europe in the netherlands 8 Rediscovering Europe 31-10-2007 10:18 Pagina 9 summary summary According to many observers, the rejection of the European Constitutional Treaty by the Dutch electorate in the referendum in June 2005 was an expression of a deeper discontent among the Dutch with European integra- tion and of a wide gap between Dutch citizens and the eu policy pursued by the political and bureaucratic elites. In light of the referendum outcome, the government requested that the wrr advise on ways to strengthen the political and social embedding of eu policy in the Netherlands. To this end, the wrr addressed the following two questions in this report: 1. Is there a problem of dwindling legitimacy of eu policy in the Nether- lands? 2. If so, how can the political and social legitimisation processes for eu policy in the Netherlands be improved? The wrr has first and foremost sought to diagnose the problems associ- ated with eu policy in the Netherlands, and has explored the question of whether an even more serious issue regarding the legitimacy or acceptabil- 9 ity of eu policy may emerge in the longer term. This analysis was based on four sources or dimensions of legitimacy which the wrr identified on the basis of both theoretical and empirical exploratory studies. The four sources are the output (results) of eu policy, input (representation), accountability and identification. The output dimension is concerned with whether eu policy objectives in the Netherlands are clear, acceptable and indeed sufficiently realised. Whether the Dutch public’s desires and views are reflected in the decision-making process is relevant for input legiti- macy, whereas accountability concerns the availability of sufficient infor- mation, debate and sanctions on those responsible for policy. And lastly, the identification dimension focuses on the connection of Dutch citizens to the European political system of which they are part. These four sources of legitimacy were also used to develop and evaluate solutions. Indeed, these four dimensions of legitimacy both individually and in their mutual interrelationship may contribute to the improvement of the legitimisation of eu policy in the Netherlands. The wrr,in line with the government’s request, focussed on how domestic actors can help connect Dutch citizens with eu policy. These links were not only sought out among political actors and officials (such as the government, Parliament, the political parties and various political and administrative elites), but also among actors operating in civil society and the news media. Rediscovering Europe 31-10-2007 10:18 Pagina 10 rediscovering europe in the netherlands European integration has long been the preserve of experts from the politi- cal, administrative and functional elites in Brussels and in the member states. They tend to focus more on the ‘technocratic’ than ‘political’ aspects. Important results have been achieved, in areas such as the internal market, the guarantees of permanent macroeconomic stability within this large internal market and the benefits of more than fifty years of internal peace and stability. These achievements, combined with the fairly limited direct impact of European integration on the day-to-day lives of European citizens, at best produced a ‘permissive consensus’ but more generally, led to indifference among the citizenry.
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