Střety legitimit v Evropské unii - Nepřímá, parlamentní, technokratická a procedurální legitimita v teorii a ústavní praxi – Venclík Jan (2019)

The monograph addresses the legitimacy of the European Union and European integration, which has been at the center of European integration studies in recent decades. In the first part, the author analyzes the concept of legitimacy and some theoretical contributions related to the EU's legitimacy deficit. In the second part, while analyzing the various modalities of legitimacy in the EU, he draws from that part of contemporary democratic theory that deals with the concept and functioning of democratic representation. The framework is based on the borrowed mechanical-spatial metaphor of four modalities ('vectors') of legitimacy: indirect, parliamentary, technocratic, and procedural legitimacy. The author notes their mutual imbalance in the period following the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty. The main thesis of the book is that the EU's legitimacy deficit is primarily a deficit of democratic representation, and that without full-fledged representation, it is impossible to operate at the European level. Democratic decision-making at the 'national' and 'supranational' levels does not stand in opposition to each other in a zero-sum game logic. Establishing substantive democratic representation is an institutional problem. The solution does not lie merely in simply adding powers to the European Parliament (or the Commission). It also concerns its composition and functioning, especially...