New understanding of corruption and EU legitimacy

Abstract

This research aims to investigate the causal linkages between the EU democratic legitimacy and the crises of representative democracies in the field of anti-corruption. The threats of corruption to the EU democratic legitimacy and the approach in handling this negative phenomenon is seen as a symptom of a more profound crisis of the EU integration project. The mutual interdependence between the EU and it is member states in delivering the standards of democracy, it's values and principles is seen through legitimation as an act of actual justification. This actual exercise of the EU indirect legitimacy in normative terms is translated into action through the key actors of representative democracies on a national level, the national parliaments and the political parties. However, the role of the parliaments and the party democracy in the broader EU context, especially evident in Central-East Europe (CEE), has been challenged and weak, suggesting hollowness of democracy. This status has been also challenged by the misuse of political power for private gains, as a general understanding of corruption, also adopted by the EU. However, the mutual reinforcement of corruption and the hollowness of democracy have remained under-acknowledged in the broader neoliberal context. The reasons behind are few:...