Institutional balance and Community method in the implementation of EU legislation following the Lisbon Treaty

Abstract:

On paper, the Lisbon Treaty radically changed the way in which EU law is implemented by defining a new institutional balance in Articles 290 and 291 TFEU, bringing decision-making in this area more in line with the traditional Community method.

However, the real reform brought by the Lisbon Treaty depends on how the political institutions and the Courts interpret and apply the new Treaty rules. An analysis of seven years of post-Lisbon institutional practice and case law shows that in reality the institutions have largely undone Lisbon’s reform, meaning that the post-Lisbon institutional balance in this area largely resembles the pre-Lisbon one and that decision-making in this area fails to align with the Community method ideal type.