Good Governance, Article 11 TEU

Background

The Treaty of Lisbon has significantly driven forward European integration. The Provisions on Democratic Principles (Title II) point out that the “functioning of the Union shall be founded on representative democracy” (Art. 10 TEU), based on direct and indirect public participation. The treaty extends the European democratic model and goes beyond the provisions of parliamentary democracy. For the first time, elements of participatory democracy are explicitly enshrined in primary legislation and defined in Article 11 TEU:

• A horizontal Civil Society Dialogue (Art. 11(1));

• A vertical Civil Society Dialogue (Art. 11(2)), including the already existing consultation mechanisms of the European Commission (Art. 11(3));

• The newly introduced European Citizens’ Initiative (Art. 11(4)).

The provisions of Article 11 could represent a milestone in the history of the European Union, when citizens and interest groups not only take part, but take responsibility for political decisions. The relevant legal basis is promising and could provide a new basis to the EU under constitutional law.

Current developments

The European Movement International (EMI) closely monitors the implementation of Art. 11 (cf. Background Paper of the EMI Board and the Report of the European Parliament on the perspectives for developing civil society dialogue under the Treaty of Lisbon) and collects proposals for its implementation and further development.

Currently, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) prepares its own initiative opinion on the future of Art. 11 entitled Principles, procedures and action for the implementation of Articles 11(1) and 11(2) of the Lisbon Treaty - Working Document, 6 February 2012.

The EMI recently adopted a paper commenting on the EESC initiative.