Increasing the democratic deficit
Revisions in the coming weeks to the policy statement of the Fiala government are expected to deal mainly with budgetary issues, such as how to raise taxes without violating the promise not to increase the tax burden. Another pressing issue is whether to agree to give up the veto that small countries have over EU decisions in some key areas. The ruling coalition currently vows to "support an EU reform that prioritizes the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality and secures the powers of the Member States so as not to increase the democratic deficit." EU Affairs Min. Mikuláš Bek (STAN) is a leading proponent of giving up the veto and told the World Economic Forum on Fri. that he had "the pleasure and privilege of being the guardian of the famous EU compromises" over the past six months. Now he wants to become the CR's EU commissioner. This would be hard to explain unless the policy statement were first revised to allow for an increase in the democratic deficit in times of crisis.
Glossary of difficult words
subsidiarity - (in politics) the principle that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed at a more local level;
proportionality - the principle that requires that any action taken by the EU not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the aims of the treaties;
proponent - a person who advocates a theory, proposal or course of action.