An Uneven Balance? A Legal Analysis of Power Asymmetries between National Parliaments in the EU

Almost a decade after the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, An Uneven Balance? A Legal Analysis of Power Asymmetries between National Parliaments in the EU takes the financial and monetary crisis in the EU as a cause to re-evaluate the position of national parliaments in a post-Lisbon EU. The Treaty of Lisbon – also labelled as the ‘Treaty of Parliaments’ – significantly strengthened the role of national parliaments and the position of the European Parliament in the EU.

This book assesses the role that national parliaments play for representative democracy in the European Union and provides a comprehensive legal analysis of power asymmetries that exist between national parliaments in the EU. It analyses how such asymmetries were exacerbated by the Euro crisis and illustrates different ways in which the negative implications for EU representative democracy resulting from such power asymmetries can be mitigated.

An Uneven Balance? is of value to both academics and policymakers at European and national level. It contributes to the on-going discussions on the EU’s democratic credentials and on the role of parliaments therein.

Hoai-Thu Nguyen (1990) is an Assistant Professor of European and comparative constitutional law at Maastricht University and a fellow of the Montesquieu Institute Maastricht. She holds law degrees from Maastricht University (The Netherlands) and the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium).