Democratic dilemmas of EU treaty reform

1
Democratic dilemmas of EU treaty reform

• From the Constitutional to the Lisbon Treaty

2
The argument in a nutshell

• The interaction of a Europeanized mode of treaty
  reform (A) with national ratification procedures
  (B) produces paradoxical results and a double
  democratic deficit (C).
• Negative externalities of two-level
  constitutional politics tend to undermine efforts
  to democratize European constitutional politics
  at both levels (D).

3
The argument in a nutshell

• Possible solutions are the Europeanization of the
  ratification procedure and more stringent
  accountability rules for heads of state and
  government at the national level (E).

4
A) The Europeanization of treaty reform

• Europeanization is understood as moving treaty
  reform from an intergovernmental to an integrated
  arena (combining national and supranational
  levels and actors)
• From intergovernmentalism to conventionalism
• The limitations and failures of intergovernmental
  conferences (IGCs)
• The Laeken Mandate
• The innovation of the Convention

5
Producing the Constitutional Treaty

• The democratic quality of the Convention
• representation, deliberation and transparency
• The interplay between the Convention and the IGC
  
• A treaty in a constitutional form
• A unified and simplified framework
• The incorporation of the Charta of Fundamental
  Rights
• A national ratification procedure

6
B) The politics of ratification

• 10 Member states decided to hold a referendum on
  the constitutional treaty for different reasons
• Constitutional necessity (Irland)
• Political necessity (Denmark)
• Party politics (GB, France)
• Unstable parliamentary majority (Czech Republic,
  Poland)
• Experiment in direct democracy (Netherlands,
  Luxembourg)
• Symbolic value (Spain, Portugal)

7
Results and Consequences

• Rejection of the Constitutional Treaty by France
  and the Netherlands
• Stop of the ratification procedure
• Reflection Period Waiting for national
  parliamentary (Fr, Ne) and presidential (Fr)
  elections and Germanys presidency of the Council
• Defining national conditions for the
  renegotiation of the treaty (Fr, Ne, UK, Pl)

8
The return of intergovernmental politics

• The IGC 2007
• Intergovernmental diplomacy
• Saving the substance of the CT at the expense of
  its constitutional form
• Accommodating the critics of the CT through
  opt-ins, exemptions and upholding veto-positions
  in sensitive areas
• Avoiding national referendums at all cost

9
The ratification of the Lisbon Treaty

• 22 countries ratified by parliamentary vote
• 3 countries waiting for constitutional court
  rulings (G, Cz) and/or presidential signature (G,
  Cz, Pl)
• 1 not yet ratified (Sw)
• 1 negative referendum (Ireland)

10
C) Paradoxes of treaty reform

• The paradox of methods
• The paradox of outcomes
• The paradox of self-defeating democratization
• The paradox of contradicting political logics

11
A double democratic deficit

• A minority (a single country) can hinder the
  coming into effect of a common agreement (treaty
  reform)
• A lack of accountability of heads of state and
  government concerning their actions in cases of
  treaty reform and ratification

12
D) The democratic dilemma of multilevel
constitutional politics

• A more democratic mode of treaty reform at the
  EU level puts pressure on the national level to
  succeed with ratification which leads to
  democratically problematic political maneuvering
• The failure to ratify European treaties
  communitarizes the costs of adjustment and
  encourages intergovernmental bargains at EU level
  at the cost of more democratic (inclusive,
  representative and transparent) modes of
  constitutional politics

13
E) Solutions

• Balancing majority and minority interests
• Eliminating the unanimity rule for treaty changes
  (e.g. 85 of Member states, 95 of population)
• Treaty comes into effect only for the ratifying
  Member states
• Strengthening political accountability of heads
  of state and government by
• limiting political discretion by introducing a
  special ratification procedure that specifies
  ratification methods at the national level
• Obligation to resign (or vote of no-confidence)
  if ratification fails