The constitutional reform of the European Union

Abstract

The European Union violates three fundamental constitutional principles: the principle of the separation of powers, the democratic principle and the principle of subsidiarity. Centralisation and the democracy deficit explain the Union's interest group bias. The only way of closing the Union's democracy deficit that is compatible with the principle of subsidiarity is to strengthen the role of the parliaments of the member-States. Since democratic legitimacy is a European public good, the Treaty has to incorporate the national parliaments in the European legislative process. Subsidiarity also requires incentive-compatible solutions for the European Court and the European fiscal constitution.