Some Germans are questioning whether their government is still a parliamentary democracy. Their underlying concerns apply throughout the evolving EU, as national sovereignty is subtly transferred to a central authority.
by Paul Kieffer
One of the major achievements resulting from World War II was the establishment of a viable parliamentary democracy in Germany. The only previous attempt at democracy in Germany was the failed Weimar Republic, followed by 12 years of dictatorship under Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.
Democracy in the post-war Federal Republic of Germany has so far passed the test of refusing to compromise democratic principles when it was challenged by the domestic terrorism of groups like the Baader-Meinhof gang and the lengthy East-West conflict.
But is Germany still a parliamentary democracy? Among those asking the question is no less than Germany's former federal president, Roman Herzog. According to Germany's constitution (called the "Basic Law"), federal law is enacted by the German parliament, the Bundestag.
In an article written earlier this year, however, Herzog pointed out that the majority of laws affecting domestic German policies no longer originate in Berlin, but rather in Brussels. It involves European Union legislation that has to be adopted by EU member countries.
In fact, according to an analysis by Germany's ministry of justice, between 1998 and 2004, 23,167 laws and decrees took effect in Germany. An incredible 84 percent of them never were debated or passed as legislation by the Bundestag. Instead, they were laws and decrees issued by the European Union's Council of Ministers.
"The Bundestag has to adopt every decree passed by the [EU] Council of Ministers," Herzog wrote, adding "that the question can be asked whether the Federal Republic of Germany can still be called an unrestricted parliamentary democracy" (Welt am Sonntag, Jan. 14, 2007).
