How a Paradoxical Protection of Democracy Can Fade Away: On the Erosion of the German Lisbon Judgment’s Authority

Abstract This paper revisits the German Constitutional Court’s Lisbon judgment (2009) and its restrictive stance towards European integration. It argues that the judgment’s reasoning was problematic from the outset and has become increasingly untenable in view of current geopolitical and domestic challenges. In light of subsequent political and legal developments, the judgment’s authority has significantly eroded. In practice, German policy and the Court itself have already moved beyond the rigid constraints suggested by the Lisbon judgment, with major integrative decisions advancing into areas the Court had sought to block. The article shows paths to a recalibration of the Court’s restrictive jurisprudence, building on the more integration-friendly line developed by its First Senate. Thus, it situates German constitutional law more constructively within the European constitutional order.