The conventional account of a European Union (EU) “democratic deficit” misses part of the story. This book argues that member-state regulatory processes operating under EU mandates may actually have become more democratically accountable, not less. EU law creates entry points for stakeholder participation in the operation of national regulatory authorities; these avenues for public participation were formerly either not open or not institutionalized to this degree. In these cases, we see not a democratic deficit but a democratic surplus generated by EU law in the member states. Moreover, the d ... More

The conventional account of a European Union (EU) “democratic deficit” misses part of the story. This book argues that member-state regulatory processes operating under EU mandates may actually have become more democratically accountable, not less. EU law creates entry points for stakeholder participation in the operation of national regulatory authorities; these avenues for public participation were formerly either not open or not institutionalized to this degree. In these cases, we see not a democratic deficit but a democratic surplus generated by EU law in the member states. Moreover, the decentralized EU regulatory structure may promote experimentation, innovation, and policy exchange between the member states. The book discusses a series of case studies demonstrating how EU law influenced telecommunications regulation in France, Greece, and the United Kingdom. It assesses the operation of accountability processes by drawing on data from more than 1,000 public consultations and some 8,000 consultation responses. The analysis is supplemented by interviews with agency officials as well as industry and consumer group representatives in Paris, Athens, Brussels, and London. The study finds increased participation by actors other than the traditional powerful firms as well as significant transparency gains compared to the previous regime. Nonetheless, the three countries did not respond to EU pressures in an identical fashion. The book compares how the same EU mandates were translated into divergent institutional practices as a result of the different administrative traditions, bureaucratic culture, and public law history of these countries. It also documents roadblocks and difficulties along the way.