Participatory Democracy in Europe Article 11 TEU and the Legitimacy of the European Union

Abstract

Participation of societal groups in the development of policies has played a crucial role throughout the history of European integration. With the Lisbon treaty, participatory democracy has been declared a constitutional principle of the European Union (EU), aiming at improving its democratic legitimacy. In this chapter I provide a review of the developing practice of participatory democracy and raise the question whether in fact these practices promote democracy at the European level. I start by situating the principle of participatory democracy in the current legal framework of the EU (II). I will then review the major dimensions of participatory democracy, namely mechanisms that aim to set up and promote a horizontal exchange within the European society (III), mechanisms that shall foster a dialogue between European institutions and societal organizations (IV), and the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) (V). I will discuss these mechanisms with reference to the institutional claims and to their actual functioning. The chapter concludes with a critical assessment of the state of participatory democracy in Europe (VI).

Keywords: participatory democracy, European Union, legitimacy