Democracy in the European Union and the Treaty of Lisbon

Yıl 2009, Cilt: 8 Sayı: 4, 1 - 19, 16.10.2009

Nevra Esentürk

Öz

Democracy, one of the basic values of Western politics, has undergone a comprehensive development
process still in progress during the course of European integration. Although at the initial phase of the
integration, even no hint of democracy was on the fore, it has become one of the most discussed
subjects in the Union. With the recent development of the Lisbon Treaty, the question of democratic
legitimacy, transparency and efficiency of the EU was put at the center. Thus, it has been given much
more attention and its credentials have been improved day by day in the EU. However, democracy,
which is a very comprehensive subject incorporating several issues related to the EU, such as the
principles of the EU, the institutional structure, legislative procedures, fundamental rights and the
principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, despite all this improvement trend in force, is still not
sufficient. In this context, in which there still exists “democratic deficit” in the EU, after a brief
historical background of the issue, the Lisbon Treaty is analyzed in terms of the novelties, advances it
brought to democracy in the EU basically in two parts, namely the democratic principles, and the
institutional and functional aspects of European democracy in this study. In the light of this analysis, it
is aimed to figure out the advantages and limits of the improvement trend in European democracy,
which would open the way for further developments in this issue.

Key words: democracy in the EU, democratic deficit, the Lisbon Treaty

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