Democratic Re-legitimation and its Limits in European Social Dialogue

Gaitenidis, Nikolaos (2026) Democratic Re-legitimation and its Limits in European Social Dialogue. INSTITUTIONES ADMINISTRATIONIS - JOURNAL OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES, 6 (1). pp. 41-57. ISSN 2786-1929

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Abstract

This article examines the European Social Dialogue as a distinctive mechanism in EU governance, institutionalized under Articles 154 and 155 TFEU, which allows social partners to negotiate agreements that may become binding EU law. Challenging traditional views of it as neo-corporatism or a deliberative complement to democracy, the study reconceptualizes it as “managed regulatory outsourcing”, where norm-drafting is delegated to organized interests but remains subject to Commission discretion, Council adoption, and limited parliamentary oversight. Drawing on theoretical frameworks of democratic legitimacy (input, output, throughput), institutional balance, and functional representation, the analysis highlights how this process redistributes authority without resolving the EU’s democratic deficit. Key case law, such as UEAPME and EPSU, underscores executive gatekeeping and constitutional constraints. Post-EPSU developments, including the 2023 Council Recommendation, reflect procedural expansion amid a shift to soft-law instruments, reinforcing hybrid legitimacy but diffusing accountability. The article concludes that while social dialogue innovates participatory governance, it reconfigures rather than eliminates legitimacy tensions, emphasizing the need for stronger accountability in EU multilevel structures.

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