The EU’s new economic governance lacks democratic legitimacy. The rise and fall of the EU Constitutional Treaty can teach policy-makers how to solve this problem

With the development of new EU economic governance in the form of the Fiscal Compact, calls for the reform of the EU’s political structures are now resurgent. Ben Crum argues that the rise and fall of the EU Constitutional Treaty can teach policy-makers which measures need to be undertaken and that a systematic vision on how European integration can complement national governing capacities rather than erode them is needed.