How Should the EU Respond to Democratic Backsliding? Normative Considerations on Expulsion and Suspension of Voting Rights from the Perspective of Multilateral Democracy

Considering the developments in Hungary and Poland, the risk of democratic backsliding in the EU is not only a threat but a reality. This also poses a threat to democracy on the European level. Therefore, we must ask: How should the European Union respond to democratic backsliding in its member states? Recent contributions on this topic often focus on the feasibility and effectiveness of reactions of the EU. This overlooks the more fundamental normative question of whether and how the EU should address these domestic issues. This paper addresses this question on the basis of multilateral democracy (or demoicracy). Multilateral democracy understands the EU as a voluntary association between several democratic peoples. Peoples are defined by a democratic structure including the rule of law. Certain variations in these internal political organisation have to be respected. However, if a member of the multilateral union falls below the threshold of a democratic structure its people is no longer a democratic agent. Allowing the representatives of such states to participate in the legislation of the Union means subjecting the other peoples and their citizens to undemocratic rule. Yet, since the citizens of the backsliding state are also EU citizens, their legal protection and participation rights should be sustained. Therefore, multilateral democracy advocates the suspension of voting rights of state representatives to expulsion of states from the union. The paper discusses objections to the suspension of voting rights as undemocratic, and whether expulsion needs to be the ultimate sanction available in multilateral democracy.