Almost a decade after the entry into force of the ‘Treaty of Parliaments’, as the Treaty of Lisbon is sometimes labelled due to its measures significantly strengthening the role of national parliaments and the position of the European Parliament in the EU, this book 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. It 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.

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