The european lesson for international democracy: The significance of articles 9 to 12 eu treaty for international organizations

European Journal of International Law

Volumn 23, Issue 2, 2012, Pages 315-334

  Von bogdandy, Armin ^a  

^a Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law   (Germany)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 84864959875     PISSN: 09385428     EISSN: 14643596     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/ejil/chs018     Document Type: Article

References (131)

1. S.J. ToopeThis is but one facet of the broader discussion on the legitimacy of international law. On the more general debate see J. Brunnée and , Legitimacy and Legality in International Law (2010)
2. J. Klabbers, A. Peters, and G. Ulfstein, The Constitutionalization of International Law (2009)
3. Reinisch, 'Securing the Accountability of International Organizations', In J. Klabbers (ed.), International Organizations (2005) 535, at 538
4. R. Wolfrum and V. Roeben Legitimacy in International Law (2008).
5. Mény, 'Can Europe be Democratic? Is it Feasible? Is it Necessary? Is the Present Situation Sustainable?', 34 Fordham Int'l Law J (2011) 1287
6. Similar vein HabermaSee also in a s, 'The Crisis of the European Union in the Light of a Constitutionalization of International Law' (in this volume).
7. This article is to be understood as part of a project that conceptualizes and develops international law along a public law paradigm; for details see the two volumes by A. von Bogdandy, (eds), The Exercise of Public Authority by International Institutions (2010)R. Wolfrum, J. von Bernstorff, P. Dann, and M. Goldmann
8. A. von Bogdandy and I. Venzke Beyond Dispute (2012)
9. Both partially available at 9 German LJ 1375, 1909, and 2013, and 12 German LJ (2011) 979 and 1341.(2008)
10. This concept of authority rests on Barnett and Duvall, 'Power in Global Governance', in M. Barnett and R. Duvall (eds), Power in Global Governance , at 1. Barnett and Duvall define power in very broad terms as 'the production, in and through social relations, of effects that shape the capacities of actors to determine their own circumstances and fate':(2005)
11. On the diversity see J. Klabbers, An Introduction to International Institutional Law (2nd edn, ), at 6 ff, 153 ff2009
12. H. Schermers and N. Blokker, International Institutional Law (3rd edn, 1995)
13. For the international level, this issue is most importantly discussed with respect to the Kadi judgment of the ECJ: Cases C-402/05 P and C-415/05 P, Kadi et al. v. Council and Commission ECR I-6351, at paras 248 ff[2008]
14. Halberstam and Stein, 'The United Nations, the European Union, and the King of Sweden: Economic Sanctions and Individual Rights in a Plural World Order', 46 CMLRev (2009) 13
15. see also The special issue of the Int'l Org L Rev: Klabbers, 'Kadi Justice at the Security Council?', 4 Int'l Org L Rev (2008) 293
16. Wessel, 'The Kadi Case: Towards a More Substantive Hierarchy in International Law?', 5 Int'l Org L Rev (2008) 323
17. Hinojosa Martínez, 'Bad Law for Good Reasons: The Contradictions of the Kadi Judgment', 5 Int'l Org L Rev (2008) 339
18. Van den Herik and Schrijver, 'Eroding the Primacy of the UN System of Collective Security: The Judgment of the European Court of Justice in the Cases of Kadi and Al Barakaat', 5 Int'l Org L Rev (2008) 329.
19. Randelzhofer, 'Zum behaupteten Demokratiedefizit der Europäischen Gemeinschaft', In P. Kirchhof and P. Hommelhoff (eds), Der Staatenverbund der Europäischen Union (1994), at 39-40.
20. See in Detail Dann, 'The Political Institutions', and Kadelbach, 'Union Citizenship', In A. von Bogdandy and J. Bast (eds), Principles of European Constitutional Law (2nd rev. Edn, 2010), at 237-443.
21. Act and decision concerning the election of the representatives of the Assembly by direct universal suffrage, OJ (1976) L 278
22. On the development of the EU through successive treaties see Guerra Martins, 'European (Economic) Community', in R. Wolfrum (ed.), The Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (2008), online edition, available at: www.mpepil.com (last visited 7 Sept. 2011).
23. App. No. 24833/94, Matthews v. UK, ECtHR Grand Chamber (1999)
24. Ress, 'Das Europäische Parlament als Gesetzgeber: Der Blickpunkt der EMRK', 2 Zeitschrift für Europarechtliche Studien (1999) 219-226.
25. Schimmelfennig, 'Legitimate Rule in the European Union', 27 Tübinger Arbeitspapiere zur Internationalen Politik und Friedensforschung (1996), Available http://tobias-lib.uni-tuebingen.de/volltexte/2000/1502011)
26. H. Bauer et al. Demokratie in Europa (2005)
27. B. Kohler-Koch and B. Rittberger Debating the Democratic Legitimacy of the European Union (2007)
28. And on the legaldebate in historical retrospective: A. von Komorowski, Demokratieprinzip und Europäische Union. Staatsverfassungsrechtliche Anforderungen an die demokratische Legitimation der EG-Normsetzung (2010), at 155-168.
29. Spanish Constitutional Court, Case Rs. 1/2004, Judgment of 13 Dec. , available at: www.tribunalconstitucionales/es/jurisprudencia/Paginas/Sentencia.aspx?cod=96702004
30. German Federal Constitutional Court, Judgment of 30 June 2009, BVerfGE 123, 267-353
31. Czech Constitutional Court, Case Pl. uS 50/04, Judgment of 8 Mar. 2006, available at: www.concourt.cz/view/pl-50-04
32. Case Pl. US 66/04, Judgment of 3 May 2006
33. On the historical evolution of international parliamentary assemblies see Arndt, Parliamentary Assemblies, International
34. H. Wehberg, Grundprobleme des Völkerbundes (1926), at 83-84
35. G. Scelle, Une crise de la Société des Nations. La réforme du Conseil et l'entrée de l'Allemagne à Genève (1927), at 137-147; see also C. Kissling, Repräsentativ-parlamentarische Entwürfe globaler Demokratiegestaltung im Laufe der Zeit. Eine rechtspolitische Ideengeschichte (2005), available at: www.forhistiur.de/zitat/0502kissling.htm 2011).
36. Franck, 'The Emerging Right to Democratic Governance', 86 AJ IL (1992) 46
37. N. Petersen, Demokratie als teleologisches Prinzip. Zur Legitimität von Staatsgewalt im Völkerrecht (2009); For a critique see Koskenniemi, L and Politics 'Legal Cosmopolitanism: Tom Franck's Messianic World', 35 NYU J Int'l (2003) 471.
38. See Christiano, 'Democratic Legitimacy and International Institutions', In S. Besson and J. Tasioulas (eds), The Philosophy of International Law (2010), at 119
39. Venzke, 'International Bureaucracies from a Political Science Perspective - Agency, Authority and International Institutional Law', 9 German LJ (2008) 1401 and the critique of the functionalist necessity theory in: Klabbers
40. Schönberger, 'Verwaltungsrechtsvergleichung: Eigenheiten, Methoden und Geschichte', in A. von Bogdandy, S. Cassese, and P. M. Huber (eds), Handbuch Ius Publicum Europaeum IV , at 493 ff, making the point for the development of administrative law.2011
41. The most visible expression of this belief is F. Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man (1993), at 133 ff.
42. M. Nowak, U.N. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - CCPR Commentary (1993), at 435 ff.
43. N. Dorsen et al., Comparative Constitutionalism (2003), at 1267 ff
44. C. Grewe and H. Ruiz Fabri, Droits Constitutionnels Européens (1995), at 223 ff.
45. G. Sartori, Demokratietheorie (1992), at 33, 40
46. 'Democratic government is based on the will of the people, expressed regularly through free and fair elections. Democracy has at its foundation respect for the human person and the rule of law. Democracy is the best safeguard of freedom of expression, tolerance of all groups of society, and equality of opportunity for each person. Democracy, with its representative pluralist character, entails accountability to the electorate, the obligation of public authorities to comply with the law and justice administered impartially. No one will be above the law': Charter of Paris for a New Europe, 30 ILM (1991) 190-194.
47. For a taxonomy of the different approaches see von Bogdandy, 'Globalization and Europe: How to Square Democracy, Globalization, and International Law', 15 EJIL (2004) 885-899.
48. D. Curtin, Postnational Democracy: The European Union in Search of a Political Philosophy (1997), at 48
49. Weiler, Haltern, and Mayer, 'European Democracy and Its Critique', 18(3) West European Politics (1995) 4, at 20.
50. The pertinent case law is perhaps the most innovative and courageous of the Court's in recent years: see Case C-184/99, Grzelczyk [2001]
51. Case C-135/08, Rottmann, [2010] 1-1449
52. Case C-34/09, Ruiz Zambrano, not yet reported. For the evolution of Union Citizenship see Kadelbach
53. Concerning the model of dual legitimation see Oeter, 'Federalism and Democracy', and Dann, 'The Political Institutions', in von Bogdandy and Bast
54. Schönberger, 'Die Europäische Union zwischen "Demokratiedefizit" und Bundesstaatsverbot', 48 Der Staat (2009) 535-550
55. For an overview see M.G. Schmidt, Demokratietheorien (4th edn, 2008), at 306 ff. 36 Lord, 'Parliamentary Representation in a Decentered Polity', in Kohler-Koch and Rittberger
56. For an account of the cosmopolitan model of democracy see, e.g., Archibugi, 'Principi di democrazia cosmopolita', in D. Archibugi and D. Bettham (eds), Diritti Umani e Democrazia 99 Cosmopolita (1998), at 66
57. D. Archibugi and D. Held (eds), Cosmopolitan Democracy. An Agenda for a New World Order (1995)
58. H.Brunkhorst, Solidarität. Von der Bürgerfreundschaft zur globalen Rechtsgenossenschaft (2002), at 20.
59. Besson, 'Das Menschenrecht auf Demokratie - Eine moralische Verteidigung mit einer rechtlichen Nuance', In G. Haller, K. Günther, and U. Neumann (eds) Gerichte als Vormund der Demokratie?, Menschenrechte und Volkssouveränität in Europa. (2011), at 61-72.
60. Ipsen and Nicolaysen, 'Haager Kongreß für Europarecht und Bericht über die aktuelle Entwicklung des Gemeinschaftsrechts', 17 Neue Juristische Wochenschrift (1964) 339-340
61. H.P. Ipsen, Europäisches Gemeinschaftsrecht (1972), at 187 ff.
62. Simma and Alston, 'The Sources of Human Rights Law: Custom, Jus Cogens and General Principles', 12 Australian Yrbk Int'l L (1992) 82
63. Kant, 'Zum ewigen Frieden. Ein Philosophischer Entwurf , in K. Vorländer (ed.), Kleinere Schriften zur Geschichtsphilosophie, Ethik und Politik (1964), at 125 ff.
64. Tomuschat, 'International Law: Ensuring the Survival of Mankind on the Eve of a New Century. General Course on Public International Law', 281 Recueil des cours (1999) at 161 ff
65. A. Cançado Trindade, International Law for Humankind (2010), at 213 ff.
66. J. Habermas, Die postnationale Konstellation (1998), at 91-142 ff.
67. Haller, 'Einführung', In Haller, Günther, and Neumann
68. For the importance of these elements see C. Schönberger, Unionsbürger (2005), at 489
69. Schönberger, 'European Citizenship as Federal Citizenship', 19 ERPL/REDP (2007) 61.
70. A. Sen, The Idea of Justice (2009), at 321
71. Groß, 'Postnationale Demokratie', 2 Rechtswissenschaft (2011) 125-135
72. Its use in international relations is now firmly established: see Zürn, 'Vier Modelle einer globalen Ordnung in kosmopolitischer Absicht', 1 Politische Vierteljahresschrift (2011) 78
73. He shows that cosmopolitan convictions and dispositions are shared by large parts of the world population.
74. This would go against the thrust of contemporary international law: K. Parlett, The Individual in the International Legal System (2011), at 372.
75. Wolfrum, 'Kontrolle der auswärtigen Gewalt', 56
76. Veröffentlichungen der Vereinigung der Deutschen Staatsrechtslehrer ff, 45 ff, and 61 ff; (1997) 38
77. Hailbronner, 'Kontrolle der auswärtigen Gewalt' Furthermore
78. Kadelbach, 'Die parlamentarische Kontrolle des Regierungshandelns bei der Beschlußfassung in internationalen Organisationen', In R. Geiger (ed.), Neue Probleme der parlamentarischen Legitimation im Bereich der auswärtigen Gewalt (2003), at 41-53
79. For an overview of the relevant international practice see Schermers and Blokker
80. Lindemann, 'Parliamentary Assemblies, International', In R. Bernhardt (ed.), Encyclopedia of Public International Law (1997), 3(2), at 892-898
81. Walter, 'Parliamentary Assemblies, International, Addendum
82. Of particular interest in recent years has been civil actors' access to the WTO Dispute Settlement mechanism: see Mavroidis, 'Amicus Curiae Briefs before the WTO: Much Ado about Nothing', in: A. von Bogdandy et al. (eds), Liber Amicorum Claus-Dieter Ehlermann (2002), at 317
83. Steger, 'Amicus Curiae: Participant or Friend? The WTO and NAFTA Experience'
84. Ascensio, 'L'amicus curiae devant les juridictions internationales', 105 RGDIP (2001) 897
85. On the role of NGOs in more detail see section 5.
86. For a recent reconstruction see B. Brunhöber, Die Erfindung 'demokratischer Repräsentation' in den Federalist Papers (2010), at 114 ff.
87. On this latter point, in a critique of the Lisbon judgment of the German Federal Constitutional Court see Schönberger
88. A. Hanebeck, Der demokratische Bundesstaat des Grundgesetzes (2004), at 199 ff, 279 ff, and 312 ff.
89. OeterIn detail see , 'Federalism and Democracy' and Dann, 'The Political Institutions', in von Bogdandy and Bast
90. Dahl, 'Can International Organizations be Democratic? A Skeptic's View', In I. Shapiro and C. Hacker Cordón (eds), Democracy's Edges (1999), at 19.
91. Nye Jr., 'Globalization's Democratic Defecit - How to Make International Institutions More Accountable', 80 Foreign Affairs (2001)
92. PettitOn autocratic regimes in this context see also , 'Legitimate International Institutions: A Neo-Republican Perspective', in Besson and Tasioulas
93. Patomäki, 'Rethinking Global Parliament: Beyond the Indeterminacy of International Law', 13 Widener L Rev (2006 375.
94. For an analysis of the debate on the introduction of sectoral parliaments at the WTO and the World Bank see Krajewski, 'Legitimizing Global Economic Governance through Transnational Parliamentarization The Parliamentary Dimensions of the WTO and the World Bank', 136 TranState Working Papers (2010), available at; (last visited 8 Sept. 2011). 65www.europarl.europa.eu/document/activities/cont/201012/20101207ATT07754/ 20101207ATT07754EN.pdf
95. The position of representatives of national parliaments in the national 'chain of legitimation', however, is a privileged one, since they are the ones who have been directly elected to represent the citizens of the national polis.
96. Advisory Opinion on certain legal questions concerning the lists of candidates submitted with a view to the election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights, ECtHR Grand Chamber, 12 Feb. Also note that some statutes try to address the disproportionately weak representation of women explicitly:see, e.g., Art. 36(8)(a)(iii) ICC Statute.2008
97. Falk and Strauss, 'On the Creation of a Global Peoples Assembly: Legitimacy and the Power of Popular Sovereignty', 36 Stanford J Int'l L (2000) 191.
98. With an overview of different models for the apportionment of seats in such a body see Bummel, Committee for a Democratic UN, Background Paper #1, Oct. 2008.
99. Mendes, 'Participation and the Role of Law After Lisbon: A Legal View on Article 11 TEU', 48 CMLRev (2011) 1769.
100. Concepts of participatory and deliberative democracy have by now entered the mainstream of democratic thought: see Schmidt
101. H. Scheffler, Die Pflicht zur Begründung von Maßnahmen nach den europäischen Gemeinschaftsverträgen (1974), at 44 ff and 66 ff.
102. P, Sweden V. Commission ECR I-11389, at paras 54 and 64.[2007]
103. Heliskoski and Leino, 'Darkness at the Break of Noon', 43 CMLRev (2006) 735.
104. C. Sobotta, Transparenz in den Rechtsetzungsverfahren der Europäischen Union (2001), at 144 ff and 198 ff.
105. See Abromeit, 'Ein Vorschlag zur Demokratisierung des europäischen Entscheidungssystems', 39 Politische Vierteljahresschrift (1998) 80
106. J. Habermas, Ach, Europa (2008), at 105.
107. See Epiney, 'Europäische Verfassung und Legitimation durch die Unionsbürger', In S. Kadelbach (ed.), Europäische Verfassung und direkte 46 ff.Demokratie (2006), at 33, 81
108. Kohler-Koch, 'The Organization of Interests and Democracy', In Kohler-Koch and Rittberger
109. See Thym, 'Supranationale Ungleichzeitigkeit im Recht der europäischen Integration', 5 Europarecht (2006) 637.
110. Wouters, 'Constitutional Limits of Differentiation', In B. de Witte et 301. al. (eds), The Many Faces of Differentiation in EU Law (2001), 299,
111. Louis, 'Le droit de retrait de l'Union européenne', 42 Cahiers de Droit Européen (2006) 293.
112. For a sample of different visions for implementing global democracy see Archibugi et al., 'Global Democracy: A Symposium on a New Political Hope', 32 New Political Science (2010) 83.
113. Macdonald and Marchetti, 'Symposium on Global Democracy, Introduction', 24 Ethics and Int'l Affairs (2010) 13
114. Chesterman, 'Globalization Rules: Accountability, Power, and the Prospects for Global Administrative Law', 14 Global Governance (2008) 39,
115. Kingsbury et al., 'The Emergence of Global Administrative Law', 68 L and Contemporary Probs (2005) 1
116. S. Cassese et al. Global Administrative Law: Cases, Materials, Issues (2nd edn, 2008).
117. See the website of the Global Administrative Law Project, concept and working definition, available at: www.iilj.org/GAL/GALworkingdefinition.asp (last visited 24 Aug. ). Global Administrative Law is seen as 'encompassing the legal mechanisms, principles, and practices, along with supporting social understandings, that promote or otherwise affect the accountability of global administrative bodies, in particular by ensuring these bodies meet adequate standards of transparency, consultation, participation, rationality, and legality, and by providing effective review of the rules and decisions these bodies make.'2011
118. Esty, 'Good Governance at the Supranational Scale. Globalizing Administrative Law', 115 Yale LJ (2006) 1490 1495.
119. Alasdair Roberts questions that a true 'transparency revolution' has taken place, where conventions of diplomatic confidentiality still persist in access to information policies: Roberts, 'A Partial Revolution: The Diplomatic Ethos and Transparency in Intergovernmental Organizations', 64 Public Admin Rev (2004) 410-411.
120. World Bank, Toward Greater Transparency through Access to Information. The World Bank's Disclosure Policy (2009).
121. G. Metzges, NGO-Kampagnen und ihr Einfluss auf internationale Verhandlungen. Das Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) und die 1997 OECD Anti-Bribery Convention im Vergleich (2006).
122. Zürn, 'Global Governance as an Emergent Political Order - The Role of Transnational Non-Governmental Organizations', in G.F. Schuppert (ed.), Global Governance and the Role of Non-state Actors (2006), at 31-96
123. Brunkhorst, 'Globalizing Democracy without a State', 31 Millennium - J Int'l Stud (2002) 675.
124. Dorf and Sabel, 'A Constitution of Democratic Constitutionalism', 98 Columbia L Rev (1998) 267
125. Schmalz- Bruns, 'Deliberativer Supranationalismus. Demokratisches Regieren jenseits des Nationalstaates', 6 Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen (1999) 185.
126. Kettner and Schneider, 'Öffentlichkeit und entgrenzter politischer Handlungsraum: Der Traum von der "Weltöffentlichkeit" und die Lehren des europäischen Publizitätsproblems', in H. Brunkhorst and M. Kettner (eds), Globalisierung und Demokratie. Wirtschaft, Recht, Medien (2000), at 369.
127. Scheuermann, 'Democratic Experimentalism or Capitalist Synchronisation? Critical Reflections on Directly-Deliberative Polyarchy', 17 Canadian J L and Jurisprudence (2004) 101.
128. 100 For an analysis of the preconditions of enhanced democratic legitimation by strengthening the awareness for international regulation in national public spheres through NGO involvement at the global level see von Bernstorff, 'Zivilgesellschaftliche Partizipation in Internationalen Organisationen: Form globaler Demokratie oder Baustein westlicher Expertenherrschaft?', in H. Brunkhorst (ed.), Demokratie in der Weltgesellschaft, 18 Soziale Welt (Sonderband) (2009), at 277.
129. 101 For the opposite view see Tomuschat
130. 102 For the federal characteristics see R. Schütze, From Dual to Cooperative Federalism ; Schönberger(2009)
131. Peters, 'Die Zukunft der Völkerrechtswissenschaft', 67 Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (ZaöRV) (2007) 721, at 722-723.