Former commissioner says democratic deficit 'continues to bedevil EU'

Former EU competition commissioner Peter Sutherland has made an impassioned plea to the EU to tackle a damaging 'democratic deficit'.

Speaking in Brussels on Monday, the Irishman said the gap between EU institutions, including parliament, and the public continues to 'bedevil' the EU.

He said that at a time of severe austerity cuts in many member states, the aim should be not just to "balance the books" but to offer EU citizens "some positives".

In a keynote address, the former commissioner also warned of the 'calamitous' consequences of a failure of the single currency to survive the ongoing economic crisis.

Sutherland, who was the youngest-ever EU commissioner in 1985, said, "People who do not realise this are living in a fool's paradise."

His comments at a European Policy Centre debate come in the wake of the decision last Friday by the ratings agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) to downgrade France's credit rating.

S&P said France was being downgraded by one notch, to AA+ although France still has a top AAA rating from the other two ratings agencies, Moody's and Fitch.

S&P also cut its ratings for Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Portugal, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta.

Sutherland, the outgoing president of the EPC, a leading think tank, was scathing of what he called the 'less than adequate' response to the 'unfolding' economic downturn.

He added, "The reaction of the markets is testimony to this failure."

With Greece again reported to be on the verge of economic meltdown, Sutherland predicted that at least one member state could default on its debt "in the very near future" with the economic consequences spreading to other EU countries.

Addressing a debate on what can be done to help the EU emerge from the recession, he called for bodies such as the European Central Bank to be "further emboldened" in order to tackle Europe's economic woes.

Calling for "deeper EU integration", including completion of the single market, Sutherland, a former attorney general of Ireland, added, "We have to realise that we are all in this together. Otherwise, we will all suffer."

Sutherland, who shared a platform with EU competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia, also appealed for more to be done to tackle the 'democratic deficit' which, he said, still "bedevils" the EU.

He said, "People simply do not feel connected to the EU at all, either to its decision-making, its disciplines or to the Brussels-based institutions.

"The effect of this is not just an alienation of our citizens from the EU but a remoteness. People do not feel it has any relevance to their everyday concerns.

"That is why they have not bothered to vote in the European elections and have little interest in what the parliament or commission does."

The irony, he argued, was that the economic problems still afflicting the eurozone had "brought home" to the public the "importance" of the EU.

"Unfortunately, this has happened in a negative rather than positive way so, clearly, more needs to be done," said Sutherland, who served in the first Jacques Delors commission.

Sutherland will be succeeded as EPC president by Philippe Maystadt, a former president of the European Investment Bank.