LEGITIMACY IS A FUNCTION OF DEMOCRACY:

The European Union's authority is fraying as governments and politicians in many members challenge EU policies and take aim at "Brussels bureaucracy" in the aftermath of Britain's vote to leave the 28-nation bloc.

The Czech president and some contenders for the French presidency have called for their own referendums on continued membership of the pan-European economic and political community, although no such plebiscite is on the cards in the near future.

Verbal assaults on the role of the European Commission and the European Parliament since the British shock almost two weeks ago look more like an attempt to appease domestic public opinion than a concerted drive to strip Brussels of its main powers.

But they could further undermine the legitimacy of the EU's common institutions in the eyes of citizens.

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