Institucionalno pozicioniranje Evropskog parlamenta – između slabih nadležnosti i apatije birača
The Institutional Position Of The European Parliament — Between Weak Competences And Voter Apathy

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the positioning of the European Parliament in the EU institutional mechanism and to what extent the weakness of this directly elected body contributes to the low turnout at the elections, alongside with the ubiquitous democratic deficit within the Union. It explains the key attributes and competencies of the European Parliament with special focus on the improvements introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon. This article argues that the power and position of the European Parliament have not improved significantly: weakness and, still, limited visibility of EP, are important reasons that citizens identify the elections for the European Parliament as a ,,second-rate national competition“. Democratic legitimization of the European Union has to be parallel with the changes in institutional system and should include shifting the power from the Council to the European Parliament and the strengthening of inter-institutional cooperation between EP and the European Commission.

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