EUROPEAN leaders may have saved the euro (for the time being, at least), but they are fast losing Europe’s citizens. Eurobarometer polls show that voters are ever more disenchanted with European bodies. Plainly, the fight against budget deficits is widening Europe’s other deficit: the democratic one.The EU boasts of being a union of democracies. But its crisis of legitimacy is intensifying as it delves more deeply into national policies, especially in the euro zone. One problem is the evisceration of national politics: whatever citizens may vote for, southerners end up with more austerity and northerners must pay for more bail-outs. Another is that the void is not being filled by a credible European-level democracy. Ancient Greeks could more readily seek the intercession of Olympian gods than today’s citizens can hope to change policy in Brussels. A separate but related problem is that the EU struggles to maintain democratic norms among its members, as in Hungary.Eurocrats’ reply to these conundrums is a flawed mantra: that “more Europe” must always be matched by “more European Parliament”. Directly elected since 1979, MEPs have gained many powers. This week they…
