|
|
The White Paper on European governance is a disappointment as it reflects a rather technocratic attitude. It suggests networking and partnership models of integration. These may help in rationalising policy-making and implementation but do not contribute much to close the legitimacy gap. The governance path is problematic as it basically comes down to steering or efficient problem-solving. Without spelling out the proper standards of democracy - i.e., accountability and congruence criteria - there can be no adequate way to handle the problems. Given the lessons from the ongoing post-Nice debate, it is, indeed, surprising that this is lacking in the White Paper.