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Treaty of Lisbon

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The Reform Treaty is a proposed replacement for the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (European Constitution), since the latter failed ratification in 2005. The details of the new treaty have been agreed upon at the European Council of 22-23 June 2007. An Intergovernmental Conference with a mandate to draft the treaty will commence work on 23 July, 2007.

In place of the EU Constitution, a Reform Treaty, to be drafted from the 16-page IGC mandate agreed during the mid-2007 EU summit, amends existing EU Treaties

History

Further information: History of the European Constitution

In 2005, Dutch and French voters rejected the European Constitution in national referendums. This led to a "period of reflection". In 2007, Germany took over the rotating EU Presidency and declared the period over. By March, the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, the Berlin Declaration was signed with a hope to give new impetus to the Union to find a new settlement in time for the 2009 Parliamentary elections.[1]

Following the Constitution's rejection in Dutch and French referendums, the Amato Group (officially the Action Committee for European Democracy, ACED) – a group of European politicians, backed by the Barroso Commission with two representatives in the group – worked unofficially on rewriting the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (EU Constitution). On 4 June 2007 the group released their text in French – cut from 63,000 words in 448 articles in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe to 12,800 in 70 articles.

On 21 June 2007, the European Council (EU summit), meeting in Brussels, began negotiations on an 11-page draft of a new "Reform Treaty", a result of bilateral negotiations during German presidency of first half of 2007. Following a day and a half of tense discussion a draft treaty compromise had been reached at around 5 a.m. on Saturday morning, 23 June 2007. Unlike the Constitution, the Treaty would amend existing treaties rather than replace them.[2] [3]

The to-be-drafted Reform Treaty will amend both the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community to have most provisions of European Constitution included. The latter treaty will be renamed "Treaty on the Functioning of the Union". There will be a reference to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union to make it legally binding.[2] This procedure follows more or less the suggestions made by the Amato Group.

Timetable

File:Angela Merkel SJ8.jpg
Germany during the 2007 presidency, and its chancellor, Angela Merkel trying hard to hammer out a compromise among member states for a Reform Treaty

Under a timetable envisioned by Germany and agreed by the June 2007 summit, all member states will use the mandate agreed at the June 2007 summit as the basis for negotiations on a new Treaty, which should be finished by the end of the year and ratified in all member states by mid 2009, ahead of the next European elections. Most states are likely to try to avoid having a referendum on the treaty – with only Ireland obliged to – and will aim to ratify it by their national parliaments.

The summit of June 2007 (European Council) in Brussels on 21 and 22 June 2007, extended to 5 a.m. on Saturday 23, found agreement on a clear and strong mandate to convene an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), the only body – represented by national governments – that can change existing EU treaties. Its decisions must be made unanimously and their results must be further ratified by member states in line with their national procedures. The most recent conferences were concluded in Rome (European Constitution, 2004), Nice (Nice Treaty, 2001), Amsterdam (Amsterdam Treaty, 1997) and Maastricht (Maastricht Treaty, 1992).

Portugal – taking over Germany as the EU's chair in July 2007 – was pressing, or eagerly supporting, Germany to reach a deal during its presidency on the IGC mandate so that it would only need to be followed by talks on technical details. Under the Portugal presidency of second half of 2007, the 16-pages draft should be worked out into a full Treaty text.

The Treaty's proposals

The Reform Treaty would keep most of the institutional innovations, such as a permanent EU president, a foreign minister under a different title "High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy", the same distribution of parliamentary seats, a reduced number of commissioners and a clause on withdrawal from the EU.

On the other hand, it would drop state-like features such as the name "constitution", as well as a reference to EU symbols (flag, anthem, motto). It would also drop a sentence on the primacy of EU law and new names for various types of EU legislation (the proposal to clearly name EU "laws" has been dropped during the June 2007 summit, so the current "regulations" and "directives" remain).

The Treaty should provide countries with a chance to opt out of EU policies in the area of police and criminal law – as pushed for by the UK.[4] Supported by the Czech Republic, during the June 2007 summit they reached provisions in the Treaty draft making the division of power between member states and the union clearer – stating that it is a two-way process – implying that powers can be taken back from the union.

Voting weights

One of the key sticking points before the summit of 2007 under German presidency was Poland's demand for a change in the proposed voting system. Under the currently applicable Nice treaty, 258 out of 345 votes (74%) representing 62 percent of EU citizens is required to establish qualified majority voting (QMV) – the bloc's key way of decision-making in the absence of a consensus. The four most populous states (Germany, UK, France and Italy) are allocated 29 votes, while Spain and Poland get 27 votes. The Constitution envisaged 55 percent of member states representing 65 percent of EU citizens for the QMV which better reflects the size of populations and boosts the power of big countries.[citation needed]

Poland instead proposed a "square root" system which would narrow the weighting of votes between the largest and smallest countries in terms of population. The Czech Republic supported its bid to an extent, but has warned it would not back a Polish veto. All the other states remained opposed.[5] After previously refusing to table the issue, the German government agreed to include it for discussion at the June council.[6]

After long series of talks on June 22, and even threats by the German presidency to launch an Intergovernmental Conference without Polish support, the summit eventually agreed on a compromise on June 23. In the compromise text, the current Nice treaty voting rules remain in place until 2014. Between 2014 and 2017 a transitional phase is to take place where the new qualified majority voting rules apply (55% member states, 65% population), but where the old Nice treaty voting weights can be applied when a member state wishes so. Also from 2014 a new version of the 1994 "Ioannina Compromise" will take effect, which allows small minorities of EU states to call for re-examination of EU decisions they do not like.[7]

Charter of Fundamental Rights

This 54-article Charter of Fundamental Rights lists citizens' political, social and economic rights. In the rejected EU Constitution it was integrated into the text of the treaty and was legally binding. The UK, however, was strongly against making it legally binding.[8]

The German presidency suggested a reference to it with a single article in the "Reform Treaty" but maintained that it should be legally binding, with possibly some extra safeguards to prevent the EU court's interpretation of the charter forcing a change of national laws. It was one of major topic of discussion at the 2007 summit. [9]

As UK insisted during the June 2007 summit talks, the Treaty draft and/or the Charter will include a statement that it will not create new rights for the Union or encroach on UK law. Poland has got a phrase into the IGC mandate stating the Charter cannot affect national governments' power to legislate in the sphere of "public morality [and] family law". The Charter will, however, still be legally binding.

EU pillars

Under the Constitution, the EU's "pillar" structure would be scrapped with the union's competencies in two major legislative areas or "pillars" – foreign and security policy (second pillar) and justice and home affairs (third pillar) boosted. However the UK was opposed to extension of supranational powers in these areas in order to avoid a national referendum. Under the June agreement, the UK will also not be obliged to take part in EU cooperation in judicial and police affairs. On foreign policy and defence, the national veto will be retained but other innovations from the constitution are retained. The Union Foreign Minister however will be renamed the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.[2][4]

At the moment, the EU does not have a full legal personality meaning it cannot sign international agreements. The Constitution would have given it this legal status but this is now up for discussion again.[9][8]

National parliaments

The Reform Treaty may slightly strengthen the role of national parliaments in EU decision-making by granting them eight rather than six weeks to study European Commission law proposals before they proceed into the bloc's legislative institutions. Germany has suggested that if a third of national parliaments object to a proposal, then the Commission will have to submit a "reasoned opinion" as to why it is bringing the law, but will not be obliged to withdraw it.[4]

Enlargement

The new Treaty may see some language on potential member states having to adhere to the bloc's values if they want to become members of the union. But a Dutch suggestion to enshrine criteria for further enlargement in the new treaty has not been fully taken on board as there are fears it would lead to ECJ judges having the last word on who could join the EU, rather than its political leaders.[4]

During the June 2007 summit Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, has secured stronger enlargement criteria in the treaty. They make it more difficult for would-be member states to get their applications approved, gives slightly more power to national parliaments over proposed EU legislation and adds a protocol stating that the new treaty does not affect the right of member states to provide services of general interest.

Controversy

In Poland

The German-backed attempt to redistribute voting weights has been the main article of controversy for Poland. It was brought to the remainder of Europe's attention by Poland's Prime Minister, who noted that Poland would have a substantially larger population were it not for Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939 — and that therefore the Poles should have comparable voting powers to Germany.[10] This argumentation was not followed by any other European state. (In fact the Polish argumentation did not incorporate the fact, that the ratio of population in 1939 between Poland and Germany was nearly the same as today.)

In the United Kingdom

The reform treaty has been greeted with great controversy in the United Kingdom.[11] One concern is that Tony Blair, who will leave office within a matter of days after attending the EU summit on the Reform Treaty, will lock his successor, Gordon Brown into an agreement which will cede UK sovereignty in some areas to the EU, and Brown will be unable to change it. Furthermore, in Labour's election manifesto, they had promised a referendum over the constitution, large parts of which are still contained in the treaty, as admitted by the German Chancellor. In response, Mr Blair, and initially Mr Brown, claimed that the treaty would not require a referendum so long as certain 'red lines' were not crossed; i.e., that the UK continued to retain her vetoes over collective foreign policy, common law (so the Charter of Fundamental Rights would be without legal effect) and social security and tax laws.[12] While Blair claimed to have reached this compromise, doubt was thrown over the legal efficacy of his foreign policy opt-out, especially since the EU retained an extensive array of diplomatic machinery.[13] Of even greater concern to many was the French demand that the words "undistorted competition" be deleted from the EU constitution's objectives, with the implication that this might lead to the re-growth of state-protected inefficient industries that the EU had previously stood firmly against. The legal effect of this amendment is disputed. Furthermore, little action was taken to curb what many in Britain consider the sprawling bureaucracy of the EU's civil service, whose books have not been signed by auditors for nine years.

Quotes

EU summit negotiations
  • "That's what it's like when people have crawled very high up in a tree, then they sometimes need help to get down with ladders and ropes and other instruments."
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, commenting on potential face-saving deals for Poland, 21 June 2007 [14]
  • "The one who wins in these kinds of situations is the one with the strongest nerves."
Lech Kaczyński, 22 June 2007[7]
  • "The German chancellor [Angela Merkel] wants to take a decision at the summit without Poland. Poland would then have the chance to join the European consensus at the governmental conference in autumn."
German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm, 22 June 2007 [15]
  • "The constitutional treaty was an easily understandable treaty. This is a simplified treaty which is very complicated."
Jean-Claude Juncker, 23 June 2007 [16]
  • "What this means for us is that we are moving out of stoppage. We managed to get all 27 states on board in the end."
Angela Merkel, 23 June 2007 [16]
  • "The way [UK, Poland and other governments] insisted in denying every emotional aspect of Europe [flag, anthem, motto] hurted me (...) And then it is those same governments who complain that the idea of Europe is distant from the people. But how can you involve citizens without involving their emotions?"
Romano Prodi, 24 June 2007 [17]
relation between the Reform Treaty and the rejected Constitution
  • “The fundamentals of the Constitution have been maintained in large part … We have renounced everything that makes people think of a state, like the flag and the national anthem.”
Angela Merkel, El Pais, 25 June 2007
  • “The good thing is that all the symbolic elements are gone, and that which really matters – the core – is left."
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Jyllands-Posten, 25 June 2007
  • “This was France’s idea from the start.”
Nicolas Sarkozy, Libération, 25 June 2007
  • “[The mandate approved by the EU] will preserve the substance of the constitutional treaty.”
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German foreign minister, Agence Europe, 25 June 2007
  • “There’s nothing from the original institutional package that has been changed.”
Astrid Thors, Finland’s Europe minister, TV-Nytt, 23 June 2007
  • "A great part of the content of the European Constitution is captured in the new treaties ... Everyone has conceded a little so that we all gain a lot.”
Jose Zapatero, El Pais, 25 June 2007

References

  1. ^ "Constitutional Treaty: the "reflection period"". EurActiv.com. 2007-06-01. Retrieved 2007-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ a b c "Presidency Conclusions Brussels European Council 21/22 June 2007" (PDF). Council of the European Union. 23 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Honor Mahony (21 June 2007). "Stakes high as EU tries to put 2005 referendums behind it". EU Observer. Retrieved 2007-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b c d Honor Mahony (20 June 2007). "EU treaty blueprint sets stage for bitter negotiations". EU Observer. Retrieved 2007-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ James G. Neuger (18 June 2007). "Merkel Sees Snags Over EU Treaty as Poland Holds Firm (Update1)]". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  6. ^ Renata Goldirova (20 June 2007). "Germany gives ear to Poland in 'Reform Treaty' talks". EU Observer. Retrieved 2007-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b Honor Mahony (23 June 2007). "EU leaders scrape treaty deal at 11th hour". EU Observer. Retrieved 2007-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ a b Mark Tran (21 June 2007). "How the German EU proposals differ from the constitution". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ a b "LinksDossier: EU in search of a new Treaty". EurActiv.com. 26 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ George Pascoe-Watson (June 22 2007). "EU can't mention the war". The Sun. Retrieved 2007-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "BBC News looks at press responses to the treaty". BBC. June 24 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Patrick Wintour (June 22 2007). "Blair lays down lines over EU deal". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Melissa Kite (June 24 2007). "Referendum demand over Blair 'sell-out'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Andrew Rettman (21 June 2007). "British guns blazing as EU summit opens". EU Observer. Retrieved 2007-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)}
  15. ^ Andrew Rettman (22 June 2007). "Germany threatens to call treaty conference over Poland's head". EU Observer. Retrieved 2007-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)}
  16. ^ a b "EU leaders hammer out treaty deal]". Swissinfo / NZZ. 24 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Andrea Bonanni (24 June 2007). "Prodi: "Un'Europa senza cuore abbiamo fatto un passo indietro"". La Repubblica. Retrieved 2007-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Since the end of World War II, sovereign European countries have entered into treaties and thereby co-operated and harmonised policies (or pooled sovereignty) in an increasing number of areas, in the European integration project or the construction of Europe (French: la construction européenne). The following timeline outlines the legal inception of the European Union (EU)—the principal framework for this unification. The EU inherited many of its present responsibilities from the European Communities (EC), which were founded in the 1950s in the spirit of the Schuman Declaration.

Legend:
  S: signing
  F: entry into force
  T: termination
  E: expiry
    de facto supersession
  Rel. w/ EC/EU framework:
   de facto inside
   outside 		                    European Union (EU) [Cont.]  
  European Communities (EC) (Pillar I)
European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) [Cont.]      
  /   /   /   European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)  
(Distr. of competences)
    European Economic Community (EEC)    
            Schengen Rules European Community (EC)
TREVI Justice and Home Affairs (JHA, pillar II)  
    /   North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) [Cont.] Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC, pillar II)
   
Anglo-French alliance 		[Defence arm handed to NATO] European Political Co-operation (EPC)   Common Foreign and Security Policy
(CFSP, pillar III)
  Western Union (WU)   /   Western European Union (WEU) [Tasks defined following the WEU's 1984 reactivation handed to the EU]
     
[Social, cultural tasks handed to CoE] [Cont.]                
        Council of Europe (CoE)
Entente Cordiale
S: 8 April 1904
Dunkirk Treaty[i]
S: 4 March 1947
F: 8 September 1947
E: 8 September 1997
London and Washington treaties[i]
S: 5 May/4 April 1949
F: 3 August/24 August 1949
Paris treaties: ECSC and EDC[ii]
S: 18 April 1951/27 May 1952
F: 23 July 1952/?
E: 23 July 2002/—
Rome treaties: EEC and EAEC
S: 25 March 1957
F: 1 January 1958
WEU-CoE agreement[i]
S: 21 October 1959
F: 1 January 1960
Brussels (Merger) Treaty[iii]
S: 8 April 1965
F: 1 July 1967
Davignon report
S: 27 October 1970
Single European Act (SEA)
S: 17/28 February 1986
F: 1 July 1987
Schengen Treaty and Convention
S: 14 June 1985/19 June 1990
F: 26 March 1995
Maastricht Treaty[iv][v]
S: 7 February 1992
F: 1 November 1993
Amsterdam Treaty
S: 2 October 1997
F: 1 May 1999
Nice Treaty
S: 26 February 2001
F: 1 February 2003
Lisbon Treaty[vi]
S: 13 December 2007
F: 1 December 2009


  1. ^ a b c d e Although not EU treaties per se, these treaties affected the development of the EU defence arm, a main part of the CFSP. The Franco-British alliance established by the Dunkirk Treaty was de facto superseded by WU. The CFSP pillar was bolstered by some of the security structures that had been established within the remit of the 1955 Modified Brussels Treaty (MBT). The Brussels Treaty was terminated in 2011, consequently dissolving the WEU, as the mutual defence clause that the Lisbon Treaty provided for EU was considered to render the WEU superfluous. The EU thus de facto superseded the WEU.
  2. ^ Plans to establish a European Political Community (EPC) were shelved following the French failure to ratify the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC). The EPC would have combined the ECSC and the EDC.
  3. ^ The European Communities obtained common institutions and a shared legal personality (i.e. ability to e.g. sign treaties in their own right).
  4. ^ The treaties of Maastricht and Rome form the EU's legal basis, and are also referred to as the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), respectively. They are amended by secondary treaties.
  5. ^ Between the EU's founding in 1993 and consolidation in 2009, the union consisted of three pillars, the first of which were the European Communities. The other two pillars consisted of additional areas of cooperation that had been added to the EU's remit.
  6. ^ The consolidation meant that the EU inherited the European Communities' legal personality and that the pillar system was abolished, resulting in the EU framework as such covering all policy areas. Executive/legislative power in each area was instead determined by a distribution of competencies between EU institutions and member states. This distribution, as well as treaty provisions for policy areas in which unanimity is required and qualified majority voting is possible, reflects the depth of EU integration as well as the EU's partly supranational and partly intergovernmental nature.
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