Democratic Legitimacy and Soft Law in the EU Legal Order: A Theoretical Perspective

The increased recourse to soft law by the European Union (EU) as a flexible solution complex social and policy issues has raised several questions about democratic legitimacy of decision-making at EU level. With aim provide normative direction for future empirical assessment law, this article explores credentials that measures should fulfil ensure their legitimacy. Drawing from intersections liberal, republican deliberative conceptions democracy, proposes four standards evaluation in practice: parliamentary involvement, transparency, participatory quality reviewability.