The EU as a post-democracy

In a commentary for the Polish daily, the conservative Czech President Václav Klaus accuses the EU of centralism and over-regulation. "How do I see Europe today? On the one hand I see an apparent ideological unity which emerged after the collapse of communism. I stress the word 'apparent', because during this period there was a clear, albeit subtle shift on the citizen-state and market economy-planned economy axis. This shift was in a direction which came as a ... complete surprise for us - the citizens of the former Communist Bloc. We wanted to move closer to our citizens, closer to the free market economy and further away from the state and central control. Unfortunately this was not the case. ... I see a freedom that is only freedom in form and a type of democracy that is relentlessly and inexorably turning into a system that controls people's room for manoeuvre more and more. I see a democracy that is turning into a post-democracy. ... The citizen and the politician are moving away from each other as a result of the increasing competences of international institutions - above all the European Union."

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