The current state of the governance of the Eurozone and the increase in the European democratic deficit

The new European economic governance measures affect the democratic legitimation of the decision-making process and the constitutional systems of Member States. In particular, the approval of the two important Treaties that respectively introduce the MES and the new stability rules, coordination and economic governance (so-called Fiscal Compact), put the focus on the degree to which the changes in the European integration process constrict the constitutional systems of Member States and, consequently, the encroachment on national sovereignty. This raises the fundamental question as to whether this new stage constitutes a rupture and final relinquishing of the States’ governance of the economy or whether, instead, it is the natural continuation of the path towards the creation of a system with federal characteristics.