Is there an impact of democratic quality on infringements of EU law ? Part 1
16/4/2021
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Bastian Spangenberg
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Temps de lecture : 15 min
In recent years, infringement, or non-compliance, of EU law has become a central aspect of research in the realm of European politics. For good reason, because compliance with law is central to the functioning of the European Union (EU), as Jean-Claude Juncker, former president of the European Commission (EC), states: “any legislation is only ever as good as its implementation and enforcement”[1] .Generally speaking, non-compliance is not a systemic problem for the EU [2]. However, it must be pointed out that member states vary in their degree of law-abiding behaviour and that measuring non-compliance is not an easy task. Implementation - understood as the transposition of EU legislation into natio- nal law as well as the enforcement of these legal provisions - depends on the member states governments and their respect for the EU legislation.Despite the recent surge in research, there does not seem to be consensus on how to explain non-compliance with EU law. In other words, which factors contribute to (non-) compliance? Commonly, three different approaches are suggested: firstly, some researchers focus on power of the member states or the EU institutions (enforcement approach); secondly, others think about the bu- reaucratic capacities of the states (managerial approach); finally, some scholars think about the intellectual and societal adaptation of member states toward the EU (constructivist approach). A combination of these three sources of explana- tion could then, consequently, explain why some member states infringe more often than others.In this in-depth study of compliance (which will consist of two parts), we want to suggest another aspect that has been overlooked so far: the democratic quality of member states. In a so-called “perfect EU-world”, the national governments would transpose EU laws directly into national law. Consequently, violating EU law has to be seen as a partial rejection of the European rule of law that is, in its turn, linked to our specific democracies. Moreover, to quote from the UN declara- tion from 24 September 2012 by the General Assembly: “human rights, the rule of law and democracy are interlinked and mutually reinforcing” [3] . Consequently, states with a high level of democratic quality are expected to comply better with international agreements than other regimes [4].This study follows Mbaye’s demand, the demand – made two decades ago – according to which implementation research should concentrate upon further factors that may influence (non-) compliance. In this first contribution we will first gain an overview on the study of infringements and then also briefly examine the state of democracy within the EU. Our This study follows Mbaye’s demand, the demand – made two decades ago – according to which implementation research should concentrate upon further factors that may influence (non-) compliance. In this first contribution we will first gain an overview on the study of infringements and then also briefly examine the state of democracy within the EU. Our hypo- thesis is that democratic quality is an important factor for predicting compliance with the common European legal framework. In the forthcoming study, building on the theoretical framework developed in this contribution, we will undertake a quantitative analysis aiming at finding out whether this hypothesis should be pursued further in the future.
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