Development of Transnational Participatory Processes in the European Union as a Way to Prevent the Democratic Deficit: The neo-neofunctionalist approach

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the growing role of transnational processes and interaction between political parties, interest groups, non-governmen-tal organisations, and other civil society institutions. The main aim is to discuss the nature of transnational participatory processes, the reasons for their occurrence, and their forms and manifestations and intensity and effectiveness, as well as their con-sequences for the functioning of the EU system with respect to its democratic char-acter. The research problems approached in this article include: 1) the nature of transnational participation, its determinants and the factors affecting its develop-ment; 2) explication of the interrelations between the laws adopted by the European Union and the transnational participatory processes; 3) the increasing social approval for the actions undertaken and the process of integration as a whole – increasing the output legitimacy of the European Union – as a result of the transna-tional participatory processes.