Crisis of EU Governance and Risk of Integration: Governance Mix, Democratic Deficit, and Politicization

The EU has faced serious crises recently. EU integration has resulted in greater public attention and made cooperation more controversial. This contribution explores three questions: why crises occur under (current) EU governance; how a crisis of EU governance will result in a crisis of EU integration; and how the EU could solve its problems. Issues both inside and outside of the EU borders are discussed to investigate the questions above. It is argued that an imbalanced governance structure and a democratic deficit cause risks of disintegration and stagnation. Multi-level governance should be revisited to augment participation of public sectors, to respond to the current politicization trend, and to relieve the democratic deficit problem.