L'APERTURA IN SENSO DEMOCRATICO DELLA PROCEDURA LEGISLATIVA ORDINARIA EUROPEA

With the aim of reducing the democratic deficit of the European Union, the Treaty of Lisbon has also sought to a greater democratization of the Union through the strengthening of the role of European Parliament in relation to a multiplicity of functions. In particular, with regard to the legislative function, the european ordinary legislative procedure, as well as renamed by the Lisbon Treaty, and that was introduced (in 1992) with the clear intention to increase the democratic legitimacy of European decision-making process through the strengthening of the European Parliament competences as the only one institution elected by direct universal suffrage, has been modified and extended to new areas. However, if, thanks to the latest changes, Parliament has become a co-legislator as well as the Council, this not means that it has acquired a greater ability to represent the interests of “citizens of the Union”. The spread of the practice of “trilogues”, with which were implemented the provisions of the Treaties, made the decision-making process unclear and untransparent, decreasing the “democratic potentialities” of the ordinary legislative procedure and making clear that the sic et simpliciter strengthening of the Parliament’s powers, it is not sufficient to ensure a more democratic decision-making procedure.