Implementing Lisbon: narrowing the EU’s ‘democratic deficit’?

Now the Lisbon Treaty has been in force since December 2009 this Policy Brief by Janis A. Emmanouilidis and Corina Stratulat assesses how far it can help to overcome the EU’s alleged democratic deficit.

They conclude that the measures it contains: strengthening the European Parliament, enhancing the role of national parliaments or introducing direct democracy in the form of the ‘citizens’ initiative’ can improve the quality of democracy in the EU but only if the Member States are willing and able to demonstrate the value added of the ‘new EU’ to its citizens.