Unequal but democratic? Equality according to Karlsruhe
德国宪法法院在里斯本裁决中主张欧洲议会议席应按人口比例分配，但本文质疑这一观点，认为政府组建权力的议会可以兼顾国家平等与个人平等，且可通过欧洲理事会特定多数确认来避免少数代表选举政府的问题。
In its Lisbon ruling, the German Constitutional Court claims that the ‘formation of a government with the powers of a state’ from within the European Parliament would require its seats to be apportioned in a strict relationship to the share of each member state in the population of the Union. In reaching this conclusion, the Court distinguishes between the equal representation of whole democratic peoples and the equal representation of individual citizens. However, we question that the composition of a European Parliament with powers of ‘government formation’ would need to give strict priority to the equal representation of persons, rather than continue to give some weight to both equalities. The Court's concern that a European Government should not be elected by those who represent a minority of the population could also be met if the Parliament's choice had to be confirmed by a qualified majority of the European Council.