Kansanäänestysten käyttö Euroopan integraatiossa

Authors

• Markku Suksi

Abstract

The referendum is experiencing a surge in the EC context. The past EC votes are so few and dispa- Referendums in rate that there can hardly exist any principle of integration by referendum. However, if the projected European Integration EC votes are carried out, there should be a justified claim of national referendums concerning Euro pean integration. It can be argued that the organization of referendums on European integration might be emerging as a principle of national constitutional practice. Irrespective of the fact that the formal or legal basis of integration referendums is extremely varying, there might also exist a reasonable expectation that the integration referendum will constitute a principle of national constitutional law in a broad sense. With its decision-making mechanisms suffering from a democracy deficit, the development of the EC into new areas will probably be pressing the limits of representative decisionmaking at the national level, which by definition should be sufficiently democratic, and developing it in the direction of increased popular participation of the direct kind in order to justify further transfers of national powers to the Community. We can thus probably look forward to many more popular votes on European integration in the future, but they will all be different in terms of constitutional regulation and, consequently, political environment and implications.