Legislative and Non-Legislative Legal Acts of the European Union and Democratic Legitimacy

Evropska unija se već nekoliko decenija suočava sa problemom demokratskog deficita. Problem demokratskog deficita postaje naročito vidljiv sa stupanjem na snagu Ugovora iz Mastrihta sa kojim Unija dobija jednu novu viziju – viziju političke zajednice. Početak integracijskog procesa, s obzirom na to da je bio ispunjen dominantno ekonomskim aspektima, nije nužno zahtijevao velik uticaj građana, što se ne može reći za političku integraciju koja radi svoje stabilizacije zahtijeva veći demokratski legitimitet, odnosno značajnije uključivanje i potvrdu građana EU. U tom kontekstu ovaj članak analizirajući domete lisabonskih rješenja koja se odnose na pitanja zakonodavnih i nezakonodavnih pravnih akata EU ima cilj da predstavi elemente koji bi trebali unijeti više transparentnosti i odgovornosti u postupak odlučivanja na supranacionalnom nivou.The European Union has been faced with the problem of democratic deficit for several decades. The issue of democratic deficit became particularly noticeable after the Maastricht Treaty had come into force, giving the EU a new vision – the one of a political community. Considering that the beginning of the integration process was predominantly characterised by the economic aspects, it did not require greater citizens’ influence, unlike the political integration, which, due to its stabilisation, required more democratic legitimacy, i.e. stronger involvement and approval of the EU citizenry. The paper analyses the articles of the Lisbon Treaty related to the issue of EU’s legislative and non-legislative legal acts, explaining the types of legally binding acts and reasons for their harmonisation achieved by the Treaty. The author asks whether new legislative acts contribute to the strengthening of democratic legitimacy and criticises the activities of the Council. Furthermore, there is a detailed explanation of the types of non-legislative acts and the procedure of their adoption. The aim of the paper is to suggest the measures that should bring more transparency and accountability to the decision-making processes at the supranational level