Norms as Negotiation Resource: the Empowerment of the European Parliament in the Lisbon Treaty

Abstract

Despite diverging preferences concerning the role of the European Parliament in the institutional architecture of the European Union, the EU member states have accepted a significant increase of its power in the Lisbon Treaty This paper argues that bargaining power alone cannot explain this result. Instead, it postulates the importance of normative pressure: arguments based on shared norms of democratic governance at the national level add legitimacy to the preferences of the supporters of a parliamentarization of the EU and mobilize social pressure on opponents of the empowerment of the ER The impact of norms as negotiation resource is demonstrated in an analysis of three controversies in the European Convention: the appointment and budget competences of the EP and the role of national parliaments.