Beate Kohler-Koch
Colliding visions of representation and participation

Third ACELG Annual Conference: Postnational Democracy: Beyond Representation in the EU, University of Amsterdam, 22. November 2013

The European Union is founded on the principle of representative democracy. But, obviously, the Constitutional Convention just like many scholars considered the representative functions of the European Parliament and the Council to be insufficient to ensure democratic European governance. Thus, the Constitutional Treaty embraced the principle of participatory democracy which is expected to complement democratic representation. The paper puts into question that participatory democracy has been institutionalized in the EU and explores whether or not the participatory instruments introduced by the Lisbon Treaty render the EU more democratic.