The European Parliament, the National Parliaments, and the EU Conventions

This paper explores the Convention method along the theoretical concept of deliberative democracy. It argues that the Convention method, in comparison with IGC’s, can be seen as an alternative way for steering system change and fundamental reform of the European Union. Hence it features participative and inclusive forms of open deliberation, it respects and integrates the relative importance of minority positions, it offers open fora for parliamentary discourse and helps to include both the European Parliament and national parliaments at an early stage of system building. Although the Convention acts in the shadow of the European Council and the upcoming IGC, the method itself might become a future model for a more democratic set up of the EU’s system.