Will the Constitutional Treaty contribute to the legitimacy of the European Union?

The article explores whether the Constitutional Treaty may provide more legitimacy for governance in the European Union. After presenting a list of normative criteria, relevant parts of the Constitutional Treaty are summarised and evaluated. It is concluded that the Constitutional Treaty's 'added value' is rather small: the document does not make the complicated nature of Union powers and Union decision-making visible and understandable to the public; the vertical and horizontal checks on the use of Union power are suboptimal; the EU's weak 'input legitimacy' is not strengthened. On the other side, the Constitutional Treaty might provide for a better protection of fundamental rights at the supranational level. Hence, as regards enhanced legitimacy, the overall picture, albeit somewhat daunting, is not altogether bleak.

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