The Lisbon Treaty complements the ‘principle of representative democracy’ in article 10 TEU with elements of participatory democracy in article 11 TEU. While the former article addresses the European Parliament, the Council and European political parties, the latter one lists citizens, representative associations, and the civil society as actors that should be involved in democratic EU decisions-making. ‘Appropriate means’, ‘regular dialogue’, ‘broad consultations’, and the new instrument of the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) are means to involve these actors.
Considering these elements, the paper will discuss, if art. 11 (especially paragraph 4) is the nucleus of direct democracy on EU level. The discussion from which the ECI originates suggests such an interpretation. Contrarily, the design of the instrument suggests that it will not involve citizens but more or less organised actors of the civil society and representative associations in EU decision-making. If the ECI is not a Trojan horse of direct democracy in the EU primary law, what is the purpose of the article? Does it express mistrust against the traditional representative bodies in the EU, the Parliament, the Council, and parties as actors in the intermediary system? Does it aim for creating new channels of representation on the EU level, with representative associations which are more issue oriented than political parties? Taking one side or the other, article 11 TEU raises the question for the European Parliament, the Council, and the political parties, how to deal with these new channels of representation. This is especially true for the new instrument of the ECI.
As the first initiatives will be not be set off before April 1st 2012, the paper cannot give full empirical evidence, on how the EU institutions and the political parties react to the new instrument of participative democracy. But based on a discourse analysis of documents from the decision-making process and the implementation of the regulation on the citizens’ initiative it will identify different interpretations of the ECI: (1) the ECI contesting the European Parliaments role as the representation of the citizens; (2) the ECI as a threat to the Commissions’ exclusive right of initiative; (3) the ECI as a toothless veto player, which decreases the efficiency of decision-making; (4) the ECI bridging the gap between citizens and EU institutions. Starting from these structures of meaning the paper will discuss possible reactions of the EU institutions on the new instrument of participative democracy and possible readjustments within the institutional balance of the political system of the EU.
