Демократски дефицит Европске уније након Лисабонског уговора
Democratic deficit in the European Union after the Lisbon Treaty

Summary/Abstract: Since 1970’s when it was introduced into the political and academic discourse in the European Union, then the European Economic Community, the notion of a democratic deficit has remained the subject of very different and highly contradictory interpretations and views. This has been particularly expressed in academic discussions, from the position that the European Union cannot and should not be assessed in terms of democratic legitimacy in accordance with the criteria and principles of the majoritarian democracy, as desirable in the national states, to the claim that non-solving of the problem of democratic deficit in the European Union is endangering the survival of the Union. On the other hand, among politicians, regardless of which position they accepted, the prevailing opinion was that it was desirable to introduce as many instruments as possible to ensure a greater legitimacy of decision-making in an institutional framework at the level of the European Union. From direct election of representatives into the European Parliament, and later on through amendments to the founding treaties from Maastricht to Lisbon, the need and importance of representing the interests of citizens at the EU level in order to obtain democratic support has always been emphasized, although with more or less measures introduced in this direction. The biggest step forward was made through the Lisbon Treaty. The key changes introduced by the Lisbon Treaty mainly concerned the elimination or reduction of the democratic deficit. New instruments have been introduced to protect citizens' interests on a supranational level, of which very much was expected. Now, eight years from entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, it seems that very little of the great expectations has been fulfilled.

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