EU democracy and the Treaty of Lisbon

Abstract

This article provides a genealogy of the broad patterns of belief that contributed to the democratic reforms contained in the Treaty of Lisbon. Based on an analysis of European Union documents, the article draws three primary conclusions. First, EU democracy is a composite of concepts. This is due to the fact that the institutions which had primary responsibility for negotiating treaty changes – the European Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission – drew on distinct “governance traditions” in formulating their reform proposals. Second, our understanding of which changes introduced by the Lisbon Treaty were intended to be democracy-enhancing should be significantly broadened. This becomes evident once it is understood how certain reforms are connected to the three institutions’ wider webs of belief. Third, two factors explain continuing limitations on the democratic character of the Union: conflicts over what democracy should mean in the context of the EU and the purpose or motivation behind the Lisbon Treaty reforms, what is labeled here a “system maintenance” view of democracy. In addition to these substantive contributions to the study of the EU and democracy, the article also outlines the main analytical components of a genealogical approach.

Appendix: Analytical Template