IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY, DEMOCRACY AND LEGITIMACY OF THE EU INSTITUTIONS WITHIN THE CURRENT TREATIES: POSSIBILITIES AND LIMITS (20 PROPOSALS)

By DAVID GARCIA and PAOLO VACCA

This policy brief takes five fundamental benchmarks of governance systems as main objectives (increased parliamentary legitimacy of decisions, streamlined decision-making processes, reinforced accountability of the executive, better implementation of decisions and clearer separation of the executive and the legislative powers). This framework is used to identify the possibilities offered by the Treaty of Lisbon allowing decision makers to address the institutional flaws, dysfunctions and practices that prevent the Union from working in a fully democratic and effective manner. At the same time, it points out actual limitations imposed by the Union’s current legal framework. At the same time, it points out actual limitations imposed by the Union’s current legal framework. The result of this research is a list of 20 proposals that, implemented as a package, could lead to considerable improvements in the functioning of the Union. DOWNLOAD THE BRIEF