The Puzzle of Transparency Reforms in the Council of the EU

• Main Author: Daniel Naurin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cogitatio 2017-09-01
• Series: Politics and Governance
• Subjects: democratic deficit; European Union; intergovernmental negotiations; legitimacy; transparency
• Online Access: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/941

I argue that the transparency reforms that have been implemented in the Council of the EU in the last decades are unlikely to change the perception of the Council as a non-transparent institution. My argument is based on three distinctions: the distinction between transparency (availability of information) and publicity (spread and reception of information); between transparency in process and transparency in rationale; and between plenary and committee decision-making arenas in legislatures. While national parliaments tend to have all these features, the Council of the EU only has two (transparency in process and committee decision-making). As a consequence, publishing ever more documents and detailed minutes of committee meetings is unlikely to strengthen the descriptive legitimacy of the Council. Furthermore, I argue that the democratic transparency problem is the reverse of what is most often argued: It is not the lack of transparency that causes a democratic deficit, but the (perceived) lack of a democratic infrastructure that makes more serious transparency reforms unthinkable to government representatives.