Challenging Executive Dominance in European Democracy
UvA-VU Seminar on European Governance, co-organised by the Jean Monnet Chair in European and Transnational Governance
Deirdre Curtin present her paper on executive dominance in the contemporary EU. She argues that such dominance is part of a wider migration of executive power towards types of decision making that eschew electoral accountability and popular democratic control.
This democratic gap is fed by far‐going secrecy arrangements and practices exercised in a concerted fashion by the various executive actors at different levels of governance and resulting in the blacking out of crucial information and documents – even for parliaments.
Beyond a deconstruction exercise on the nature and location of EU executive power and secretive working practices, this article focuses on the challenges facing parliaments in particular. It seeks to reconstruct a more pro‐active and networked role of parliaments – both national and European – as countervailing power.
In this vision parliaments must assert themselves in a manner that is true to their role in the political system and that is not dictated by government at any level.
About the lecturer
Deirdre Curtin is Professor of European Law of the University of Amsterdam (since 2008) and Director of the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance (ACELG), a centre of excellence of the Faculty of Law at the University of Amsterdam.
As research leader she co-directs ACELG's research programme on 'Compound Constitution(s) in Europe'. In 2007 she was awarded the top-level Spinoza prize by the Dutch Scientific Organization (NWO) for her research in the field of European law and governance, the only time it has been awarded to a lawyer.
As a core member of ACCESS EUROPE, Deirdre Curtin is a co-leader of the European Law and Governance (ELG) theme.
Registration
This seminar is open to faculty, post-docs, PhD candidates, and research master students from both universities.
Since spaces are limited, please register with Douwe Truijens (Programme Manager ACCESS EUROPE) D.G.Truijens@uva.nl.
In preparation for the seminar, participants are expected to have read the paper, which will be supplied to those who register.
The seminar will be followed by drinks.