Un triangle à quatre côtés : l’equilibre institutionnel et le conseil Européen

Abstract:

The institutional framework of the EU, traditionally organised around the European Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament, is being unsettled by the ever increasing importance of the European Council. The Lisbon strategy, which the European Council initiated in 2000, even gives it the role of agenda setter. This evolution is explained by the insufficient political legitimacy of the Commission for launching new projects, in the current context of the absence of a clearly agreed objective in the pursuit of European integration. The findings of this article however show that, although the Commission's role seems to be under the greatest pressure, the inclusion of the European Council is leading to a new bipolar equilibrium between the European Council and the Commission as the effective policy-making instruments, to the detriment of the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.