Consultation Processes as a Practice of Legitimacy in the EU Legislative Process

摘要

The European Commission, in its White Paper on European Governance, believes that 'good governance' requires participation of the stakeholders, and that their involvement in political processes strengthens the confidence of citizens in the institutions. The related keyword addressed and questioned in this article is the term 'participation'. This term also represents the core of the White Paper and is associated with great expectancy with 'good governance'. This article discusses the academically, as well as politically interesting question whether the participation promises of the White Paper by the European Commission and of the EU Treaty are in fact redeemed, and whether consultation processes can be assessed in this sense as a real and effective identification practice within the EU legislative process, or whether consultation processes merely serve to suggest additional input-legitimacy at the EU level, which turn out to be a Potemkin village upon closer inspection.