Lisabonski ugovor i nove institucije Europske Unije

In: Politicka misao, Band 47, Heft 1, S. 151-160

Abstract

Europe is a contingent product of its institutions rather than a political project. Although the announced goal was simplification & rationalization of its institutional system, the opposite occurred: the system has become even more complex. The author looks into the process dynamics & implementation results of the Lisbon Treaty (effective 1 December 2009), showing that the traditional European compromise leads to outcomes that none of the actors really wanted, & that no one is satisfied with. The European Union is an arena of institutional coercions & games, the rules of which are occasionally readjusted. This occasional readjustment accounts for the survival of the system, which is a priori unstable, for each unsatisfied partner thinks & hopes that redefinition might provide him with an opportunity to gain a better position. The process is especially visible in negotiations regarding the Lisbon Treaty, above all in the institutional innovation which is the function of the new president (of the European Council). The conclusive interpretation of the Lisbon Treaty will depend on the outcome of the bureaucratic struggle right until 2011, & prior to a new definition of the rules, undoubtedly no later than 2014. The new EU system testifies primarily to the fundamental trait of European integration, which strongly favoured from the outset a repeated rethinking of its form (its institutions) in the light of considerations regarding its goals (its policies). Adapted from the source document.