The Development and Evolution of Values and Principles in the EU Integration Process – Principles of Participatory Democracy and Their Implementation in Today's EU

The more the EU has widened and deepened in scope and governance, the more the basic principles (Art 2 TEU) of its multiple purpose community become challenged. Today delivery, democracy and destiny of the EU are questioned. As a Community of Destiny and Values a sense of belonging becomes crucial. Therefore, it is important to reach out to its citizens (Art 11 & 17 TEU) by referring to shared values and principles and act accordingly.  Principles of participatory democracy have always been present in the EU treaties but only recently with the European Citizen Initiative (Art 11, 4 TEU), European citizens have an instrument to impact EU policymaking.

This contribution aims at analysing the history of the inclusion of values and principles in the European Treaties from the 1951 ECSC Treaty to the 2007 Lisbon Treaty and beyond. It will specifically focus on the evolution of values and principles that enable EU citizens to participate in democratic processes and EU policymaking. Going beyond the ECI, the contribution will examine and assess how citizens and citizens’ representative associations were given the possibility to exchange views in areas of EU action, how a transparent and permanent dialogue between the institutions and representative organisations is established and maintained, and how the consultation mechanism is built and used. The contribution relies on text analysis and literature review as well as on the analysis of the legal framework and policy developments in view of an increasing need for participatory democracy of citizens in the EU.