The European Parliament has been in the epicenter of the Lisbon treaty reforms discussions. However, the Lisbon innovations can only be understood and interpreted from an evolutionary perspective. The article offers a historical analysis of the development of the Parliament’s competences by the Maastricht treaty with its revolutionary development of practical application of the “federal paradigm” to the legal status of the Parliament.

The major argument is that the “federalism paradigm” application was the key factor promoting the rise of the Parliament’s competences in EU external relations. This approach transformed the view at the Parliament and promoted further development of its competences within the classical parliamentary triad: budgetary, legislative and external relations.