The Member States 7 February 1992, Consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union - TITLE II PROVISIONS ON DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES - Article 10

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Article 10 of the Treaty on European Union establishes representative democracy as the foundational principle of the Union's functioning, providing that citizens are directly represented in the European Parliament while Member States are represented in the European Council and the Council through their heads of state or government and governments, respectively, each democratically accountable to national parliaments or citizens. Every citizen holds the right to participate in the Union's democratic life, with decisions to be taken as openly and as closely as possible to the citizen. European-level political parties are recognised as instruments for forming European political awareness and expressing the will of Union citizens.AI