Il deficit democratico e il ruolo del Parlamento Europeo. Quali problemi ancora aperti?

The democratic deficit issue is one of the most debated in the European Union (EU) studies, in particular after the approval of the Maastricht Treaty and the beginning of a long period of institutional reforms within the EU. This topic has gained even more attention after the breaking–out of the deep economic and financial crisis started in 2008. The way in which European institutions had manged the crisis, in particular in some countries like Greece and – partially - Italy, have risen questions not only about the democratic functioning of the EU but even on the capacity of the supranational institutions to restrict the effective functioning of democracy within the EU member states. In this article, the thesis of the democratic deficit will be discussed and some of its most relevant features will be underlined. The article will concentrate its analysis on the institutional aspects of the democratic deficit and in particular, it will be focused on the role of the European Parliament (EP). The empowerment of the EP represents a kind of overtaking of the perceived democratic deficit? If the answer is negative, which are the reasons behind this failure? Furthermore, the article will reflect over the absence of a real European political space and how this absence has been managed during the last 2014 European elections.