On 10 May 2012, leading academics from the fields of economics, law, po-
litical science and history met, at the European University Institute, with
the President of the European Commission José Manuel Durão Barroso and high-ranking officials to discuss the subject of ‘Democratic Governance of the Euro’. At the GGP High-Level Policy Seminar, policy recommendations to strengthen democratic participation and legitimacy in the European Union in the context of the current crisis were debated., Amongst the participants, there was general consensus that more and deeper integration is needed to respond to the challenges posed by the Euro crisis. Building on this commonly shared view, the seminar debate turned on ways and models to reach such higher level of integration in a democratically legitimate manner. This Policy Brief highlights the following five of the discussed options – non-exclusionary and interrelated in nature – to enhance democratic governance of the Euro: (1) Politicizing the EU by politicizing the European Commission through the transformation of the next election to the European Parliament into an electoral competition on the presidency of the European Commission; (2) Introducing a tax at the European level to equip the European Union with resources independent from Member States and to make citizens aware of the existing benefits of integration; (3) Adding an institutional reform component to European policies, so that grant of European funds becomes conditional on targeted institutional reforms; (4) Strengthening the relation between the European Union and national parliaments by furthering exchange and making European institutionsmore accountable towards national constituents; (5) Increasing transparency and accountability of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).