The Role Of Referendums In The European Union Treaty Making Process

Abstract

Referendums are generally seen as a medium for enhancing the quality of democracy. Since the rising popularity of the representative democracies, referendums have turned into supplementary mediums used mainly for gaining additional legitimacy. However, there has been a world-wide tendency to rely on referendums before significant decisions. As a result, referendums have been integrated to the European Union (EU) system in recent decades. The EU-related referendums can be categorized under different headings. This study will focus on the ones conducted to ratify the EU treaties. Since the Single European Act of 1986, many EU member states have asked the opinion of their citizens about the newly signed EU treaties in particular. In this scope, firstly the role of referendums in the EU integration process is analysed. Secondly, the EU treaty ratification processes are handled by considering the referendum factor. The study argues that referendums have turned into an integral part of the EU treaty-making process and they have the potential of determining the future path of the EU integration. Keywords: European union, Referendums, Treaty making, Treaty revision, Treaty ratification.