Wars, terrorism, financial markets, migration flows, organised crime, climate change: none stop at national borders. Democracy and politics still do. Democracy and the rule of law are the most cherished achievements of Western civilization and are strenuously defended at national level. But on the international stage, states remain the only actors. Citizens and political parties have little or no say. The rules of power and force are still the norm. Differences in size, power and resources between countries are still the determining factor in any decision. Problems remain unaddressed because effective and democratic political structures are lacking. In the European Union, enormous progress has been made to advance democracy and the rule of law. The European Parliament has increased its powers significantly in the last decade. But in too many important fields it has little or no say, including the way the EU is financed, the governance of the Euro and EU foreign and security policy. The Parliament does not express a true Government. The most important decisions are still in the hands of national governments, each with its own national interest and national constituency. Bodies like the Eurogroup take important decisions affecting millions of European citizens, but they are accountable to no one. European political parties remain a loose collection of diverse national parties. But a collection of twenty-eight democracies does not make a European democracy. It is time to break national barriers to politics and democracy. The European Union should become a full parliamentary democracy, where the parliament legislates on all matters, appoints a real Government, can express a political majority and is autonomous from member states.

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