Lissabonfördraget, EU-nämnden och svenskarna : En studie om EU-nämndens arbete med Lissabonfördragets bestämmelser om demokratiska principer och om svenskars upplevda påverkan på EU

Sammanfattning: This paper presents a study on how the Swedish EU committee has processed and implemented the Lisbon Treaty. More specifically, the eight article; provision on democratic principles. The eight article intends to increase the level of political participation among the citizens of EU. Therefore, the study also provides the perspective of the citizens of Sweden regarding whether they think they can affect the decisions made by the EU and also, whether they actually do participate in the democratic life provided by the EU. Through combining the work of the EU committee and the perspective of the Swedish people, the study contributes with a wide perspective that can understand how the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty has turned out. What this study has presented is that the work of the EU committee has been limited, which also reflects the Swedes’ engagement in participatory democracy. In addition to this, there are also split opinions whether they think they can affect the political decisions made by the EU.