This text examines the democratic legitimacy of the European Union (EU) legislation and takes stock of the democratic credentials of the EU's main decision-making procedure - the ordinary legislative procedure - as it was renamed in the Lisbon Treaty.

This book examines the democratic legitimacy of the European Union (EU) and evaluates the democratic credentials of the EU's main decision-making procedure. It finds that though there is potential for democratic decision-making in the EU, the actual process is dominated by technocrats and secret meetings. The book assesses and discusses the conditions for democratic input in decision-making with five empirical chapters each addressing the ordinary legislative procedure from different dimensions: democratic deliberative forums, inclusion, openness, power neutralising mechanisms and...