A Note on Political Contestability and the Future of the European Union

In this paper, we argue that, first, the contestable-markets hypothesis increases our understanding of why and how public referenda and initiatives are beneficial for the political decision-making process and, second, that these direct-democratic instruments could solve some of the current and pending institutional problems of the European Union (EU) and reshape its process of political integration. The Lisbon Treaty includes some attempts in this direction which, however, are half-hearted and thus hardly increase the democratic control of the EU by its member states and their citizens.