Republicans are sensitive to the issue of social justice, but often argue that justice outside the framework of the nation state is impossible. A re-interpretation of the Republican paradigm can provide an alternative. It is derived from the notion of public goods (res publica), which have external effects for all European citizens. These public goods need efficient forms of administration. It can be shown that the creation of the euro has changed the incentives for voluntary versus centralised forms of governance. Exclusive public goods need more centralisation and this is only acceptable if policy decisions are democratically legitimised.
Public goods establish a clear criterion for the assignment of political-administrative competences between member states and the European Union, but this concept also entitles citizens as owners of public goods to assume their rights as sovereign and choose a government. This links the republican paradigm with discussions of European democracy.
