European democracy, constitutional identity and sovereignty: Some repercussions of the German Constitutional Court’s Lisbon Judgment

The judgment of the German Federal Constitutional Court on the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty engendered a lively debate, both in the wider public and in academia. This study evaluates academic interpretations of the verdict. It focuses on the three constitutional issues raised by the Court: democracy at the European level, constitutional identity of the Member States and political sovereignty. Recent initiatives of the European Parliament and new provisions introduced by the Lisbon Treaty are assessed in view of the arguments raised in European constitutional scholarship.