So the influence of the court is very important, and concern about democracy is growing, but I’m not sure how far it has actually spread among the people yet.

It’s strange that France and Britain have been far more ready to accept the ECJ’s judicial culture than Germany when Germany is the one with a clause in its constitution which allows for the state to join EU-like organisations and delegate its sovereignty upwards. Factortame is a great case for seeing how the British courts have reconcilled the doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty with the doctrine of Supremacy to acknowledge in legal terms what’s been the case in Community law for years previously.

Its decisions brought about the adoption of fundamental rights as a necessary ingredient in European integration (resulting in the Charter of Fundamental Rights).

The Bundesverfassungsgericht now eyes the political rights of German and EU citizens in relation to the (proposed) powers of the European Union.

The German Constitution may be too narrow to allow the Lisbon Treaty or further steps without change, but for those who think that more EU powers are needed in crucial questions the other side of the coin is that extended powers require corresponding democratic legitimacy at European level.

In my humble opinion, the Lisbon Treaty is deficient on both grounds – powers and democracy – which is why I have such difficulties being enthusiastic about it, despite a number of improvements both substantially and with regard to clarity (when you refer to the consolidated version).

Nosemonkey, I fully subscribe to your question: when is the EU going to go for the kind of radical, democratic reform that is so vital for it to maintain support, and stop tinkering about with unsatisfactory compromises like Lisbon and Nice?