European democracy

Sébastien Platon

Chapter 3 in Research Handbook on European Constitutional Law, 2026, pp 44-62 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The idea of European Democracy is notoriously controversial. For decades, the European Union has been accused of having a ‘democratic deficit’. Things have changed gradually, and it is fair to say that, especially since the Lisbon Treaty, democracy has become a major explicit reference in European Union law, and thus a pillar of European constitutional law. Democracy, first and foremost, is one of the values of the European Union, as per Art. 2 TEU. This comes with several important legal consequences. A whole Title of the Treaty on the European Union, namely Title II, is dedicated to ‘provisions on democratic principles’. It appears that the EU law conception of democracy is primarily articulated around representative democracy – even though participative democracy is also present, although implicitly. Since European Democracy exists in parallel with national democracy, tensions necessarily arise between the two levels, and bridges are needed.

Keywords: Democracy; Values; Parliaments; Councils; Referendum; Political parties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781802207866
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