Towards a More Democratic Union? Comments on the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe

K. Ingles, A. Ott, THE CONSTITUTION FOR EUROPE AND AN ENLARGING UNION: UNITY IN DIVERSITY?, pp. 29-55, Europa Law Publishing, 2005

Posted: 29 Nov 2008

See all articles by Fabian Amtenbrink

Fabian Amtenbrink

Erasmus University Rotterdam - Erasmus School of Law

Date Written: January 1, 2005

Abstract

The Declaration of the Laeken European Council of December 2001 observed 'a democratic challenge facing Europe' and referred to a EU that 'needs to become more democratic, more transparent and more efficient'. Considering the similar goals of the Treaty on European Union 1992-1993 little seemed to have changed in the course of almost a decade. Indeed, the Laeken Declaration can be read as a clear admittance to the fact that despite several attempts the EU had not lost its stigma of being remote from its citizens and essentially undemocratic. The Laeken Declaration described a research agenda, asking - among other things - how the democratic legitimacy of the EU could be increased and which initiatives could be taken to bring the European institutions closer to EU citizens. The answer by the subsequently installed Convention on the Future of Europe came in the shape of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE), which after considerable amendments to the original draft, was signed in Rome on 29 October 2004 by the then 25 Member States of the EU. This essay critically explores whether and to what extent the TCE would have altered the patterns of democratic legitimation currently existing in the EU and whether the European institutions would indeed have been brought closer to its citizens. In doing so, a straightforward normative institutional analysis of the most important institutional reforms under the TCE is offered.While this essay was written at a time when it was still unclear whether the TCE would come into force, the findings remain relevant despite the subsequent rejection of the TCE. The reason for this is that its replacement in the shape of the Treaty of Lisbon, to a large extent, copies the institutional arrangements under the TCE.

Keywords: European Union, democracy, legitimacy, accountability, governance, institutional reforms, Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, Treaty of Lisbon

JEL Classification: K19, K29, K33, K49

Suggested Citation

Amtenbrink, Fabian, Towards a More Democratic Union? Comments on the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe (January 1, 2005). K. Ingles, A. Ott, THE CONSTITUTION FOR EUROPE AND AN ENLARGING UNION: UNITY IN DIVERSITY?, pp. 29-55, Europa Law Publishing, 2005, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1308095

Fabian Amtenbrink (Contact Author)

Erasmus University Rotterdam - Erasmus School of Law ( email )

3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands
+31104081573 (Phone)

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