Treaty of Lisbon

For other uses, see Treaty of Lisbon (disambiguation).

Treaty of Lisbon

Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community
File:Treaty of Lisbon (transparent).png
Type	Amender of previous treaties
Drafted	7–8 September 2007
Signed	13 December 2007
Sealed	18 December 2007
Effective	1 January 2009 if ratified
Signatories	European Union member states
Depositary	Government of Italy
Languages	23 EU languages
Full text
Treaty of Lisbon at Wikisource

The Treaty of Lisbon (also known as the Reform Treaty) is a treaty signed on 13 December 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal. It alters how the European Union (EU) works through a series of amendments to the Treaty on European Union (TEU, Maastricht) and the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC, Rome), the latter being renamed Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The two consolidated treaties will form the legal basis of the Union, and combined constitute most of the content of the rejected European Constitution. The Treaty of Lisbon is scheduled to be ratified by all Member States by the end of 2008, in time for the 2009 European elections.

History

Background

Further information: History of the European Constitution

The need to review the EU's constitutional framework, particularly in light of the impending accession of ten new Member States in 2004, was highlighted in a declaration annexed to the Treaty of Nice in 2001. The agreements at Nice had paved the way for further enlargement of the Union by reforming voting procedures. The Laeken declaration of December 2001 committed the EU to improving democracy, transparency and efficiency, and set out the process by which a constitution could be arrived at. The European Convention was established, presided over by former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, and was given the task of consulting as widely as possible across Europe with the aim of producing a first draft of the Constitution. The Convention consisted mainly of representatives of national parliaments, not only from existing Member States but also from candidate countries, as well as representatives of heads of state and government. It published its final draft in July 2003. The final text of the proposed Constitution was agreed upon at the summit meeting on 18–19 June 2004 under the presidency of Ireland.

The Constitution, having been agreed by heads of government from the 25 Member States, was signed at a ceremony in Rome on 29 October 2004. Before it could enter into force, however, it had to be unanimously ratified by each member state. Ratification took different forms in each country, depending on the traditions, constitutional arrangements, and political processes of each country. In 2005, Dutch and French voters rejected the European Constitution in national referenda. While the majority of the Member States already had ratified the European Constitution, mostly through parliamentary ratification (though Spain and Luxembourg held referenda), due to the requirement of unanimity to amend the constitutional treaties of the EU, it became clear that it could not enter into force. This led to a "period of reflection" and the political end of the proposed European Constitution.

New impetus

In 2007, Germany took over the rotating EU Presidency and declared the period of reflection over. By March, the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, the Berlin Declaration was adopted by all Member States. This declaration outlined the intention of all Member States to agree on a new treaty in time for the 2009 Parliamentary elections, that is to have a ratified treaty before mid-2009.

50th anniversary in the summer of 2007, Berlin. (Merkel and Barroso)

Already before the Berlin Declaration, 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. In the Berlin Declaration, the EU leaders unofficially set a new timeline for the new treaty;

Timetable

21–23 June 2007		European Council meeting in Brussels, mandate for IGC
23 July 2007		Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) in Lisbon, text of Reform Treaty
7–8 September 2007		Foreign Ministers’ meeting
18–19 October 2007		European Council in Lisbon, final agreement on Reform Treaty
13 December 2007		signing in Lisbon
by end of 2008		ratified by all Member States
1 January 2009		entry into force

June European Council

On 21 June 2007 the European Council met in Brussels to agree upon the foundation of a new treaty to replace the rejected Constitution. The meeting took place under the German Presidency of the Union, with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel leading the negotiations as President-in-Office of the European Council. After the Council quickly dealt with its other business, such as deciding on the accession of Cyprus and Malta to the Eurozone, negotiations on the Treaty took over and lasted until 5 a.m. on Saturday morning, 23 June 2007.

File:Angela Merkel SJ8.jpg

Angela Merkel brokered a draft treaty agreement in June 2007

Agreement was reached on a 16-page mandate for an Intergovernmental Conference, that proposed removing much of the constitutional terminology and many of the symbols from the old European Constitution text. In addition it was agreed to recommend to the IGC that the provisions of the old European Constitution should be amended in certain key aspects (such as voting or foreign policy). Due to pressure from the United Kingdom and Poland, it was also decided to add a protocol to the Charter of fundamental human rights within the EU (clarifying that it did not extend the rights of the courts to overturn domestic law in Britain or Poland). Among the specific changes were greater ability to opt-out in certain areas of legislation and that the proposed new voting system that was part of the European Constitution would not be used before 2014 (see Provisions below).

In the June meeting, the name "Reform Treaty" also emerged, finally eliminating the name "Constitution for Europe" for the new EU treaty. Technically it was agreed that the Reform Treaty would amend both the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community to include most provisions of the European Constitution, however not to combine them into one document. It was also agreed to rename the Treaty establishing the European Community (EC-Treaty), which is the main functional agreement including most of the substantive provisions of European primary law, to "Treaty on the Functioning of the Union". In addition it was agreed, that unlike the European Constitution where a Charter was included in the text, there would only be a reference to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union to make that document legally binding. Many of the amendments followed the procedures suggested by the Amato Group.

Intergovernmental Conference

Portugal had pressed and supported Germany to reach an agreement on a mandate for an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) under their presidency. After the June negotiations and final settlement on a 16-page framework for the new Reform Treaty, the Intergovernmental conference on actually drafting the new treaty commenced on 23 July 2007. The IGC opened following a short ceremony. The Portuguese presidency presented a 145 page document (with an extra 132 pages of 12 protocols and 51 declarations) entitled the "Draft Treaty amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community" and made it available on the Council of the European Union website as a starting point for the drafting process.

In addition to government representatives and legal scholars from each member state, the European Parliament sent three representatives. These were conservative Elmar Brok, social democratic Enrique Baron Crespo and liberal Andrew Duff.

Before the opening of the IGC, the Polish government expressed a desire to renegotiate the June agreement, notably over the voting system, but relented under political pressure by most other Member States, due to a desire not to be seen as the sole trouble maker over the negotiations. However, according to some media reports, during the drafting process, Poland and Ireland may join the UK in its opt-out of the Charter on human rights, and Poland may call for further codification of rules regarding the ability of countries to delay legislation. Despite an opt-out for Ireland having been negotiated, the ICTU had stated it would push for a no vote, if the opt-out had been exercised. In the end, the opt-out for Ireland was not exercised in this area.

October European Council

José Sócrates: as President-in-Office he led the negotiations in the Lisbon meeting in October 2007

This conference, mainly consisting of legal experts of all Member States, was closed at Council meetings on 18 and 19 October 2007. As the IGC is held in Lisbon and the European Council meeting in October took place in Lisbon as well, it is likely the treaty will be called the "Treaty of Lisbon" in the style of past treaties (excluding the Constitution's IGC in Rome); the Maastricht Treaty in Maastricht (1992), the Amsterdam Treaty in Amsterdam (1997), and the Nice Treaty in Nice (2001). The meeting took place under the Portuguese Presidency of the Union, with Portugal's Prime Minister José Sócrates leading the negotiations as President-in-Office of the European Council.

At the European Council meeting on 18 October and 19 October 2007 in Lisbon, a few last-minute concessions were made to ensure the signing of the treaty:

• Italy gained an additional MEP, while the President of the EP will be counted as an extra MEP (thus keeping the 750 MEP ceiling);
• Poland got a slightly stronger wording for the revived Ioannina Compromise, plus a nomination for an additional Advocate General at the European Court of Justice. The creation of the permanent "Polish" Advocate General is formally conditioned by an increase of the number of Advocates General from 8 to 11.
• Austria got a suspension of the court case over its student quotas;
• Bulgaria succeeded in having the Cyrillic transcription of "euro" be spelt "евро" to sound "evro" (instead of "еуро" as requested by the European Central Bank).

Signing

The treaty was signed 13 December 2007 by heads of government for Member States in the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, Portugal. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was criticised by sections of the media for not taking part in the main ceremony, instead signing the treaty separately a number of hours after the other delegates. A requirement to appear before a committee of British MPs was cited as the reason for his absence.

Structure

The Treaty of Lisbon is a series of amendments to the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht) and the Treaty establishing the European Community (Rome), the latter being renamed 'Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union'. It consists solely of cross-references amending the existing treaties, and is not intended to be a normal text in itself, in contrast to the European Constitution which was a single readable document.

Treaties of the European Union
Front page of an EU document containing the consolidated treaties and documents which comprise the legal basis of the EU
Location	Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Purpose	Establishing the laws and principles under which the European Union is governed

The Treaties of the European Union are a set of international treaties between the European Union (EU) member states which sets out the EU's constitutional basis. They establish the various EU institutions together with their remit, procedures and objectives. The EU can only act within the competences granted to it through these treaties and amendment to the treaties requires the agreement and ratification (according to their national procedures) of every single signatory.

Two core functional treaties, the Treaty on European Union (originally signed in Maastricht in 1992, The Maastricht Treaty) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (originally signed in Rome in 1957 as the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community i.e. The Treaty of Rome), lay out how the EU operates, and there are a number of satellite treaties which are interconnected with them. The treaties have been repeatedly amended by other treaties over the 65 years since they were first signed. The consolidated version of the two core treaties is regularly published by the European Commission.

Despite the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the bloc in 2020, its name remains officially on some of the treaties (the SEA, Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon and all accession treaties between 1972 and 2011) as it was part of the consultation and ratification process as a member state at the time those treaties were drawn up, though the country is no longer legally bound by them itself. This can only be altered by a future amendment to the treaties.

Content

The two principal treaties on which the EU is based are the Treaty on European Union (TEU; Maastricht Treaty, effective since 1993) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU; Treaty of Rome, effective since 1958). These main treaties (plus their attached protocols and declarations) have been altered by amending treaties at least once a decade since they each came into force, the latest being the Treaty of Lisbon which came into force in 2009. The Lisbon Treaty also made the Charter of Fundamental Rights legally binding, though it remains a separate document.

Treaty on European Union

Main article: Treaty on European Union

Following the preamble the treaty text is divided into six parts.

Title 1, Common Provisions

The first deals with common provisions. Article 1 establishes the European Union on the basis of the European Community and lays out the legal value of the treaties. The second article states that the EU is "founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities". The member states share a "society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail".

Article 3 then states the aims of the EU in six points. The first is simply to promote peace, European values and its citizens' well-being. The second relates to free movement with external border controls are in place. Point 3 deals with the internal market. Point 4 establishes the euro. Point 5 states the EU shall promote its values, contribute to eradicating poverty, observe human rights and respect the charter of the United Nations. The final sixth point states that the EU shall pursue these objectives by "appropriate means" according with its competences given in the treaties.

Article 4 relates to member states' sovereignty and obligations. Article 5 sets out the principles of conferral, subsidiarity and proportionality with respect to the limits of its powers. Article 6 binds the EU to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 7 deals with the suspension of a member state and article 8 deals with establishing close relations with neighbouring states.

Title 2, Provisions on democratic principles

Article 9 establishes the equality of national citizens and citizenship of the European Union. Article 10 declares that the EU is founded in representative democracy and that decisions must be taken as closely as possible to citizens. It makes reference to European political parties and how citizens are represented: directly in the parliament and by their governments in the council and European Council – accountable to national parliaments. Article 11 establishes government transparency, declares that broad consultations must be made and introduces provision for a petition where at least 1 million citizens may petition the commission to legislate on a matter. Article 12 gives national parliaments limited involvement in the legislative process.

Title 3, Provisions on the institutions

Article 13 establishes the institutions in the following order and under the following names: the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the Court of Auditors. It obliges co-operation between these and limits their competencies to the powers within the treaties.

Article 14 deals with the workings of Parliament and its election, article 15 with the European Council and its president, article 16 with the council and its configurations and article 17 with the commission and its appointment. Article 18 establishes the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and article 19 establishes the Court of Justice.

Title 4, Provisions on enhanced cooperations

Title 4 has only one article which allows a limited number of member states to co-operate within the EU if others are blocking integration in that field.

Title 5, General provisions on the Union's external action and specific provisions on the Common Foreign and Security Policy

Chapter 1 of this title includes articles 21 and 22. Article 21 deals with the principles that outline EU foreign policy; including compliance with the UN charter, promoting global trade, humanitarian support and global governance. Article 22 gives the European Council, acting unanimously, control over defining the EU's foreign policy.

Chapter 2 is further divided into sections. The first, common provisions, details the guidelines and functioning of the EU's foreign policy, including establishment of the European External Action Service and member state's responsibilities. Section 2, articles 42 to 46, deal with military cooperation (including Permanent Structured Cooperation and mutual defence).

Title 6, Final provisions

Article 47 establishes a legal personality for the EU. Article 48 deals with the method of treaty amendment; specifically the ordinary and simplified revision procedures. Article 49 deals with applications to join the EU and article 50 with withdrawal. Article 51 deals with the protocols attached to the treaties and article 52 with the geographic application of the treaty. Article 53 states the treaty is in force for an unlimited period, article 54 deals with ratification and 55 with the different language versions of the treaties.

Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union

Main article: Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union

The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union goes into deeper detail on the role, policies and operation of the EU. It is split into seven parts.

Part 1, Principles

In principles, article 1 establishes the basis of the treaty and its legal value. Articles 2 to 6 outline the competencies of the EU according to the level of powers accorded in each area. Articles 7 to 14 set out social principles, articles 15 and 16 set out public access to documents and meetings and article 17 states that the EU shall respect the status of religious, philosophical and non-confessional organisations under national law.

Part 2, Non-discrimination and citizenship of the Union

The second part begins with article 18 which outlaws, within the limitations of the treaties, discrimination on the basis of nationality. Article 19 states the EU will "combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation". Articles 20 to 24 establishes EU citizenship and accords rights to it; to free movement, consular protection from other states, vote and stand in local and European elections, right to petition Parliament and the European Ombudsman and to contact and receive a reply from EU institutions in their own language. Article 25 requires the commission to report on the implementation of these rights every three years.

Part 3, Union policies and internal actions

Part 3 on policies and actions is divided by area into the following titles: the internal market; the free movement of goods, including the customs union; agriculture and fisheries; free movement of people, services and capital; the area of freedom, justice and security, including police and justice co-operation; transport policy; competition, taxation and harmonisation of regulations (note Article 101 and Article 102); economic and monetary policy, including articles on the euro; employment policy; the European Social Fund; education, vocational training, youth and sport policies; cultural policy; public health; consumer protection; Trans-European Networks; industrial policy; economic, social and territorial cohesion (reducing disparities in development); research and development and space policy; environmental policy; energy policy; tourism; civil protection; and administrative co-operation.

Part 4, Association of the overseas countries and territories

Part 4 deals with association of overseas territories. Article 198 sets the objective of association as promoting the economic and social development of those associated territories as listed in annex 2. The following articles elaborate on the form of association such as customs duties.

Part 5, External action by the Union

Part 5 deals with EU foreign policy. Article 205 states that external actions must be in accordance with the principles laid out in Chapter 1 Title 5 of the Treaty on European Union. Article 206 and 207 establish the common commercial (external trade) policy of the EU. Articles 208 to 214 deal with cooperation on development and humanitarian aid for third countries. Article 215 deals with sanctions while articles 216 to 219 deal with procedures for establishing international treaties with third countries. Article 220 instructs the High Representative and Commission to engage in appropriate cooperation with other international organisations and article 221 establishes the EU delegations. Article 222, the Solidarity clause states that members shall come to the aid of a fellow member who is subject to a terrorist attack, natural disaster or man-made disaster. This includes the use of military force.

Part 6, Institutional and financial provisions

Part 6 elaborates on the institutional provisions in the Treaty on European Union. As well as elaborating on the structures, articles 288 to 299 outline the forms of legislative acts and procedures of the EU. Articles 300 to 309 establish the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the European Investment Bank. Articles 310 to 325 outline the EU budget. Finally, articles 326 to 334 establishes provision for enhanced co-operation.

Part 7, General and final provisions

Part 7 deals with final legal points, such as territorial and temporal application, the seat of institutions (to be decided by member states, but this is enacted by a protocol attached to the treaties), immunities and the effect on treaties signed before 1958 or the date of accession.

Protocols, annexes and declarations

There are 37 protocols, 2 annexes and 65 declarations that are attached to the treaties to elaborate details, often in connection with a single country, without being in the full legal text.

Protocols;

• 1: on the role of National Parliaments in the European Union
• 2: on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality
• 3: on the statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union
• 4: on the statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank
• 5: on the statute of the European Investment Bank
• 6: on the location of the seats of the institutions and of certain bodies, offices, agencies and departments of the European Union
• 7: on the privileges and immunities of the European Union
• 8: relating to Article 6(2) of the Treaty on European Union on the accession of the Union to the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
• 9: on the decision of the Council relating to the implementation of Article 16(4) of the Treaty on European Union and Article 238(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union between 1 November 2014 and 31 March 2017 on the one hand, and as from 1 April 2017 on the other
• 10: on permanent structured cooperation established by Article 42 of the Treaty on European Union
• 11: on Article 42 of the Treaty on European Union
• 12: on the excessive deficit procedure
• 13: on the convergence criteria
• 14: on the Euro Group
• 15: on certain provisions relating to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• 16: on certain provisions relating to Denmark
• 17: on Denmark
• 18: on France
• 19: on the Schengen acquis integrated into the framework of the European Union
• 20: on the application of certain aspects of Article 26 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to the United Kingdom and to Ireland
• 21: on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice
• 22: on the position of Denmark
• 23: on external relations of the Member States with regard to the crossing of external borders
• 24: on asylum for nationals of Member States of the European Union
• 25: on the exercise of shared competence
• 26: on services of general interest
• 27: on the internal market and competition
• 28: on economic, social and territorial cohesion
• 29: on the system of public broadcasting in the Member States
• 30: on the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union to Poland and to the United Kingdom
• 31: concerning imports into the European Union of petroleum products refined in the Netherlands Antilles
• 32: on the acquisition of property in Denmark
• 33: concerning Article 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
• 34: on special arrangements for Greenland
• 35: on Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution of Ireland

• 36: on transitional provisions
• 37: on the financial consequences of the expiry of the ECSC treaty and on the Research fund for Coal and Steel

Annexes

• Annex I lists agricultural and marine produce covered by the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy.
• Annex II lists the overseas countries and territories associated with the EU.

Declarations

There are 65 declarations attached to the EU treaties. As examples, these include the following. Declaration 1 affirms that the charter, gaining legal force, reaffirms rights under the European Convention and does not allow the EU to act beyond its conferred competencies. Declaration 4 allocates an extra MEP to Italy. Declaration 7 outlines Council voting procedures to become active after 2014. Declaration 17 asserts the primacy of EU law. Declaration 27 reasserts that holding a legal personality does not entitle the EU to act beyond its competencies. Declaration 43 allows Mayotte to change to the status of outermost region.

Euratom

As well as the two main treaties, their protocols and the Charter of Fundamental Rights; the Treaty Establishing a European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) is still in force as a separate treaty.

Title one outlines the tasks of Euratom. Title two contains the core of the treaty on how cooperation in the field is to take place. Title three outlines institutional provisions and has largely been subsumed by the European Union treaties. Title four is on financial provisions and title five on the general and title six is on final provisions.

Amendment and ratification

The treaties can be changed in three different ways. The ordinary revision procedure is essentially the traditional method by which the treaties have been amended and involves holding a full inter-governmental conference. The simplified revision procedure was established by the Treaty of Lisbon and only allows for changes which do not increase the power of the EU. While using the passerelle clause does involve amending the treaties, as such, it does allow for a change of legislative procedure in certain circumstances.

The ordinary revision procedure for amending treaties requires proposals from an institution to be lodged with the European Council. The President of the European Council can then either call a European Convention (composed of national governments, national parliamentarians, MEPs and representatives from the Commission) to draft the changes or draft the proposals in the European Council itself if the change is minor. They then proceed with an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) which agrees the treaty which is then signed by all the national leaders and ratified by each state.

While this is the procedure that has been used for all treaties prior to the Lisbon Treaty, an actual European Convention (essentially, a constitutional convention) has only been called twice. First in the drafting of the Charter of Fundamental Rights with the European Convention of 1999–2000. Second with the Convention on the Future of Europe which drafted the Constitutional Treaty (which then formed the basis of the Lisbon Treaty). Previously, treaties had been drafted by civil servants.

The simplified revision procedure, which applies only to part three of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and cannot increase the powers of the EU, sees changes simply agreed in the European Council by a decision before being ratified by each state. The amendment to article 136 TFEU makes use of the simplified revision procedure due to the small scope of its change.

Any reform to the legal basis of the EU must be ratified according to the procedures in each member state. All states are required to ratify it and lodge the instruments of ratification with the Government of Italy before the treaty can come into force in any respect. In some states, such as Ireland, this is usually a referendum as any change to that state's constitution requires one. In others, such as Belgium, referendums are constitutionally banned and the ratification must take place in its national parliament.

On some occasions, a state has failed to get a treaty passed by its public in a referendum. In the cases of Ireland and Denmark a second referendum was held after a number of concessions were granted. However, in the case of France and the Netherlands, the treaty was abandoned in favour of a treaty that would not prompt a referendum. In the case of Norway, where the treaty was their accession treaty, the treaty (hence, their membership) was also abandoned.

Treaties are also put before the European Parliament and while its vote is not binding, it is important; both the Belgian and Italian Parliaments said they would veto the Nice Treaty if the European Parliament did not approve it.

Minor amendments not requiring ratification

Main article: Passerelle Clause

The treaties contain a passerelle clause which allows the European Council to unanimously agree to change the applicable voting procedure in the Council of Ministers to QMV and to change legislation adoption procedure from a special to the ordinary legislative procedure, provided that no national parliament objects. This procedure cannot be used for areas which have defence implications.

The fourth amendment procedure is for changing status of some of the special member state territories. The status of French, Dutch and Danish overseas territories can be changed more easily, by no longer requiring a full treaty revision. Instead, the European Council may, on the initiative of the member state concerned, change the status of an overseas country or territory (OCT) to an outermost region (OMR) or vice versa. This provision doesn't apply to special territories of the other member states.

Legend for below table: [Amending] – [Membership]

European Council decision type	Established/Amended	Agreed in	Agreed on	Effective from	Ceased
Changing status of French territory	Withdrawal of Saint-Barthélemy (OMR to OCT)	Brussels, BE	29 October 2010	1 January 2012	in force
Changing status of French territory	Enlarged to Mayotte (OCT to OMR)	Brussels, BE	11 July 2012	1 January 2014	in force

Ratified treaties

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 S: 4 March 1947 F: 8 September 1947 E: 8 September 1997

Brussels Treaty S: 17 March 1948 F: 25 August 1948 T: 30 June 2011

London and Washington treaties S: 5 May/4 April 1949 F: 3 August/24 August 1949

Paris treaties: ECSC and EDC S: 18 April 1951/27 May 1952 F: 23 July 1952/— E: 23 July 2002/—

Protocol Modifying and Completing the Brussels Treaty S: 23 October 1954 F: 6 May 1955

Rome treaties: EEC and EAEC S: 25 March 1957 F: 1 January 1958

WEU-CoE agreement S: 21 October 1959 F: 1 January 1960

Brussels (Merger) Treaty S: 8 April 1965 F: 1 July 1967

Davignon report S: 27 October 1970

European Council conclusions S: 2 December 1975

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 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 S: 13 December 2007 F: 1 December 2009

Legend for below table: [Founding] – [Amending] – [Membership]

Treaty	Established/Amended	Signed in	Signed on	Effective from	Ceased
ECSC Treaty source text	European Coal and Steel Community	Paris, FR	18 April 1951	23 July 1952	23 July 2002
Treaty amending the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community	Amended Previous Amended the ECSC treaty to take into account the transfer of Saarland from France to Germany	Luxembourg, LU	27 October 1956	9 October 1958	23 July 2002
EEC Treaty (Treaty of Rome) source text	European Economic Community	Rome, IT	25 March 1957	1 January 1958	in force
Euratom Treaty source text	European Atomic Energy Community	Rome, IT	25 March 1957	1 January 1958	in force
Convention on certain institutions common to the European Communities	Amended Previous Established a common Assembly, a common Court of Justice and a common Economic and Social Committee	Rome, IT	25 March 1957	1 January 1958	1 May 1999
Netherlands Antilles Convention source text	OCT status for the Netherlands Antilles	Brussels, BE	13 November 1962	1 October 1964	in force
Merger Treaty source text	Amended Previous Executives of ECSC and EAEC combined with those of the EEC.	Brussels, BE	8 April 1965	1 July 1967	1 May 1999
First Budgetary Treaty	Amended Previous Partial budgetary powers to Parliament	Luxembourg, LU	22 April 1970	1 January 1971	in force
Treaty of Accession 1972	Enlarged to Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom	Brussels, BE	22 January 1972	1 January 1973	in force
Treaty amending certain provisions of the Protocol on the Statute of the European Investment Bank	Amended Previous Protocol on the Statute of the European Investment Bank	Brussels, BE	10 July 1975	1 October 1977	in force
Second Budgetary Treaty	Amended Previous Greater budgetary powers to Parliament Established the Court of Auditors (see article for all changes).	Brussels, BE	22 July 1975	1 June 1977	in force
Treaty of Accession 1979	Enlarged to Greece	Athens, GR	28 May 1979	1 January 1981	in force
Greenland Treaty source text	Withdrawal of Greenland	Brussels, BE	13 March 1984	1 February 1985	in force
Treaty of Accession 1985	Enlarged to Spain and Portugal	Madrid, ES Lisbon, PT	12 June 1985	1 January 1986	in force
Single European Act source text	Amended Previous Introduced the Single Market and European Political Cooperation	Luxembourg, LU The Hague, NL	17 February 1986 28 February 1986	1 July 1987	in force
Treaty of Maastricht source text (Treaty on European Union)	European Union Amended Previous EEC became European Community pillar of EU. Intergovernmental pillars of CFSP and JHA established.	Maastricht, NL	7 February 1992	1 November 1993	in force
Act amending the Protocol on the Statute of the European Investment Bank empowering the Board of Governors to establish a European Investment Fund	Established the European Investment Fund	Brussels, BE	25 March 1993	1 May 1994	in force
Treaty of Accession 1994	Enlarged to Austria, Finland and Sweden	Corfu, GR	24 June 1994	1 January 1995	in force
Treaty of Amsterdam source text	Amended Previous Introduced the High Representative, transferred powers from JHA pillar to EC and integrated the Schengen Agreement (see article for all changes).	Amsterdam, NL	2 October 1997	1 May 1999	in force
Treaty of Nice source text	Amended Previous Prepared the EU to cope with enlargement (see article for all changes).	Nice, FR	26 February 2001	1 February 2003	in force
Treaty of Accession 2003	Enlarged to Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia	Athens, GR	16 April 2003	1 May 2004	in force
Treaty of Accession 2005	Enlarged to Bulgaria and Romania	Luxembourg, LU	25 April 2005	1 January 2007	in force
Treaty of Lisbon source text	Amended Previous Created European Council President, enhanced foreign policy, abolished pillar system, expanded Parliament's powers and QMV, made Rights charter binding.	Lisbon, PT	13 December 2007	1 December 2009	in force
Protocol on European Parliament seats source text	Amended Protocol 36 Appointed 18 new members of the EP until the 2014 election, who would have been elected in 2009 if the Treaty of Lisbon had been in force. No seats were abolished, so the number of the MEPs temporarily increased to 754.	Brussels, BE	23 June 2010	1 December 2011	in force
TFEU ESM amendment source text	Amended TFEU Article 136 Authorised the establishment of the European Stability Mechanism.	Brussels, BE	25 March 2011	1 May 2013	in force
Treaty of Accession 2011 source text	Enlarged to Croatia	Brussels, BE	9 December 2011	1 July 2013	in force
Irish protocol on the Lisbon Treaty	Formalising the Irish guarantees	Brussels, BE	16 May 2012 – 13 June 2012	1 December 2014	in force
Brexit Agreement	Withdrawal of the United Kingdom	Brussels, BE London, UK	24 January 2020	1 February 2020	in force

Abandoned treaties

The European Constitution failed due to negative votes in two member states.

1972 and 1994 Treaties of Accession of Norway

Norway applied to join the European Communities/Union on two occasions. Both times a national referendum rejected membership, leading Norway to abandon their ratification of the treaty of accession. The first treaty was signed in Brussels on 22 January 1972 and the second in Corfu on 24 June 1994.

Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (the European Constitution)

The European Constitution was a treaty that would have repealed and consolidated all previous overlapping treaties (except the Euratom treaty) into a single document. It also made changes to voting systems, simplified the structure of the EU and advanced co-operation in foreign policy. The treaty was signed in Rome on 29 October 2004 and was due to come into force on 1 November 2006 if it was ratified by all member states. However, this did not occur, with France rejecting the document in a national referendum on 29 May 2005 and then the Netherlands in their own referendum on 1 June 2005. Although it had been ratified by a number of member states, following a "period of reflection", the constitution in that form was scrapped and replaced by the Treaty of Lisbon.

Related treaties

Although not formally part of European Union law, several closely related treaties have been signed outside the framework of the EU and its predecessors between the member states because the EU lacked authority to act in the field. After the EU obtained such autonomy, many of these conventions were gradually replaced by EU instruments.

Following on from the success of the Treaty of Paris, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, efforts were made to allow West Germany to rearm within the framework of a common European military structure. The Treaty instituting the European Defence Community was signed by the six members on 27 May 1952, but it never entered into force as it was not ratified by France and Italy. The Common Assembly also began drafting a treaty for a European Political Community to ensure democratic accountability of the new army, but it was abandoned when the Defence Community treaty was rejected.

Other early examples include the Statute of the European School of 1957, the Naples Convention of 1967 on customs cooperation, the Brussels Convention of 1968 on jurisdiction in civil matters, the Convention setting up a European University Institute on 1972 and the amending Convention of 1992 to the EUI Convention, the Agreement on the Suppression of Terrorism of 1979, the Rome Convention of 1980 on contractual obligations, the Convention on double jeopardy of 1987, the Agreement on the application of the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons of 1987, the Convention abolishing the legalization of documents of 1987, the Agreement on the simplification and modernization of extradition requests of 1989, the Dublin Convention of 1990 on asylum, the Arbitration convention of 1990 on double taxation, the Maintenance Convention of 1990, the Transfer of Criminal Proceedings Agreement of 1990, the Convention on the Enforcement of Foreign Criminal Sentences of 1991, the Eurovignette Agreement of 1994, and the Convention Defining the Statute of the European Schools of 1994. Additionally, the convention on mutual recognition of companies and legal persons was signed in 1968 but never entered into force. Likewise, the Community Patent Convention of 1975 and the Agreement relating to Community patents of 1989, which amended the 1975 Convention never entered into force.

Article K.3 of the Maastricht Treaty, which entered into force in 1993, authorised the European Communities to "draw up conventions which it shall recommend to the Member States for adoption in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements" under the newly created Justice and Home Affairs pillar, which was organised on an intergovernmental basis. Concluded under these provisions were the Naples II Convention of 1997 on customs cooperation, the conventions on simplified extradition procedures of 1995, the Europol Convention of 1995 establishing Europol, the PFI Convention of 1995 on fraud, the Customs Information System Convention of 1995, the Insolvency Convention of 1995, the Convention relating to extradition of 1996, the convention on the fight against corruption of 1997, the Service Convention of 1997 on the service of documents, the convention on matrimonial matters of 1998, the convention on driving disqualifications of 1998, and the convention on mutual assistance in criminal matters of 2000. Numerous protocols to these agreements have also been concluded. The JHA was integrated into the EC structures as the area of freedom, security and justice with the Lisbon Treaty's entry into force in 2009, which has allowed a number of these Conventions to be replaced by EU Regulations or Decisions.

Finally, several treaties have been concluded between a subset of EU member states due to a lack of unanimity. The Schengen Treaty and Convention of 1985 and 1990 respectively were agreed to in this manner, but were subsequently incorporated into EU law by the Amsterdam Treaty with the remaining EU member states that had not signed the treaty being given an opt-out from implementing it. Others agreements signed as intergovernmental treaties outside the EU legal framework include the EU status of forces agreement of 2003, the EU claims agreement of 2004, the Treaty of Strasbourg of 2004 establishing the Eurocorps, the Treaty of Velsen of 2007 establishing the European Gendarmerie Force, the Prüm Convention of 2005 on the fight against terrorism, the convention on centralised customs clearance of 2009, the Agreement on the protection of classified information of 2011, the Treaty Establishing the European Stability Mechanism of 2012 establishing the European Stability Mechanism, the European Fiscal Compact of 2012 on fiscal rules in the eurozone, the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court of 2013 establishing the Unified Patent Court, and the Single Resolution Fund Agreement of 2014 establishing the Single Resolution Fund. However, all these agreements are open to accession by EU member states. The text of the Prum Convention, Fiscal Compact and Single Resolution Fund Agreement state that the intention of the signatories is to incorporate the treaty's provisions into EU structures and that EU law should take precedence over the treaty. A TFEU amendment was ratified which authorises the creation of the ESM, giving it a legal basis in the EU treaties.

An updated EMU reform plan issued in June 2015 by the five presidents of the council, European Commission, ECB, Eurogroup and European Parliament outlined a roadmap for integrating the Fiscal Compact and Single Resolution Fund agreement into the framework of EU law by June 2017, and the intergovernmental European Stability Mechanism by 2025. Proposals by the European Commission to incorporate the substance of the Fiscal Compact into EU law and create a European Monetary Fund to replace the ESM were published in December 2017. On 30 November 2020 the finance ministers at the Eurogroup agreed to amend the treaties establishing the ESM and Single Resolution Fund, to be ratified in 2021 by all Eurozone member states. The reform proposal was blocked for months because of the veto of the Italian government. The proposed amendments include:

• The establishment of the ESM as a "backstop" to the Single Resolution Fund (SRF).
• Reform of ESM Governance
• The precautionary financial assistance instruments
• Clarifications and expansions of the ESM mandate on economic governance;

Title 3 of the Fiscal Compact was incorporated into EU law as part of the economic governance framework reforms (Regulation (EU) 2024/1263, Council Directive (EU) 2024/1265 and Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1264) which entered into force as of 4 April 2024.

List

Legend for below table: [in force] – [replaced]

Ratified treaties

Ratified treaties
Treaty	Subject matter	Signed in	Signed on	Parties	Effective from	Status
Statute of the European School	European Schools	Luxemburg, LU	1 September 1957	13 EU states	22 February 1960	Repealed
Naples Convention	Customs cooperation	Rome, IT	7 September 1967	13 EU states	1 February 1970	Repealed
Brussels Convention (Protocol)	Jurisdiction in civil matters	Brussels, BE	27 September 1968	15 EU states	1 February 1973	in force
Convention setting up a European University Institute	European University Institute	Florence, IT	19 April 1972	24 EU states<!-Several states are missing on the convention page, but they are listed by the EUI website--> EU non-party: HR, CZ, HU, LT	1 February 1975	in force
Rome Convention	Contractual obligations	Rome, IT	19 June 1980	27 EU states	1 April 1991	in force
Schengen Agreement	Established open borders	Schengen, LU	14 June 1985	26 EU states< EU non-party: IE, UK	26 March 1995	in force, integrated as Union law
Dublin Convention	Asylum	Dublin, IE	15 June 1990	23 EU states	1 September 1997	Replaced
Schengen Convention	Implemented the Schengen Agreement	Schengen, LU	19 June 1990	26 EU states EU non-party: IE, UK	1 September 1993	in force, integrated as Union law
Arbitration convention	Elimination of double taxation	Brussels, BE	23 July 1990	All 28 EU states	1 January 1995	in force
Convention revising the Convention setting up a European University Institute	European University Institute	Florence, IT	17 September 1992	24 EU states EU non-party: HR, CZ, HU, LT	1 May 2007	in force
Eurovignette Agreement	Vignette	Brussels, BE	9 February 1994	4 EU states	1 October 2002	in force
Europol Convention	Europol	Brussels, BE	26 July 1995	27 EU states	1 October 1998	Replaced
PFI Convention	Fraud	Brussels, BE	26 July 1995	All 28 EU states	17 October 2002	Replaced
Customs Information System Convention	Customs cooperation	Brussels, BE	26 July 1995	27 EU states	25 December 2005	Replaced
Convention relating to extradition	Extradition	Dublin, IE	27 September 1996	21 EU states	5 November 2019	Replaced
Convention on the fight against corruption	Corruption	Brussels, BE	26 May 1997	27 EU states EU non-party: MT	28 September 2005	in force
Naples II Convention	Customs cooperation	Brussels, BE	18 December 1997	All 28 EU states	23 June 2009	in force
Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters	Cooperation on criminal matters	Brussels, BE	29 May 2000	26 EU states EU non-parties: HR, GR	23 August 2005	in force
EUCARIS Treaty	EUCARIS	Luxemburg, LU	26 June 2000	9 EU states	1 May 2009	in force
EU SOFA	Status of forces agreement	Brussels, BE	17 November 2003	All 28 EU states	1 April 2019	in force
Treaty of Strasbourg	Eurocorps	Brussels, BE	22 November 2004	5 EU states	26 February 2009	in force
Prüm Convention source text	Terrorism	Prüm, DE	27 May 2005	14 EU states	1 November 2006	in force
Treaty of Velsen	European Gendarmerie Force	Velsen, NL	18 October 2007	7 EU states	1 June 2012	in force
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union source text	Human rights	Strasbourg, FR	12 December 2007	26 EU states EU non-party: PL, UK	1 December 2009	in force, integrated as Union law
Convention on centralised customs clearance	Customs clearance	Brussels, BE	10 March 2009	All 28 EU states	16 January 2019	in force
Agreement on the protection of classified information	Classified information	Brussels, BE	25 May 2011	All 28 EU states	1 December 2015	in force
Treaty Establishing the European Stability Mechanism source text (Amendment)	European Stability Mechanism	Brussels, BE	2 February 2012	All 20 eurozone states	27 September 2012	in force
European Fiscal Compact source text	Fiscal rules in the eurozone	Brussels, BE	2 March 2012	27 EU states EU non-party: UK	1 January 2013	in force
Single Resolution Fund Agreement (Amendment)	Single Resolution Fund	Brussels, BE	21 May 2014	24 EU states (all 20 eurozone states)	1 January 2016	in force
Agreement for the Termination of Bilateral Investment Treaties	Bilateral investment treaty	Brussels, BE	5 May 2020	23 EU states EU non-party: AT, FI, IE, SE, UK	29 August 2020	in force
Agreement on a Unified Patent Court source text (Protocols)	Unified Patent Court	Brussels, BE	19 February 2013	17 / 25 Signatories	1 June 2023	in force

Signed treaties

Signed treaties
Treaty	Subject matter	Signed in	Signed on	Ratification (of signatories)	Status
Treaty establishing the European Defence Community	European Defence Community	Paris, FR	27 May 1952	4 / 6	Abandoned
Convention on mutual recognition of companies and legal persons (Protocol)	Recognition of companies and legal persons	Brussels, BE	29 February 1968	5 / 6	Abandoned
Community Patent Convention (Protocol)	Patents	Luxembourg, LU	15 December 1975	7 / 9	Replaced
Agreement on the Suppression of Terrorism	Terrorism	Dublin, IE	4 December 1979	5 / 9	Replaced
Convention on double jeopardy	Double jeopardy	Brussels, BE	25 May 1987	9 / 13	Replaced
Convention abolishing the legalization of documents	Legalization of documents	Brussels, BE	25 May 1987	8 / 14	Replaced
Agreement on the application of the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons	Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons	Brussels, BE	25 May 1987	6 / 12	Replaced
Agreement on the simplification and modernization of extradition requests	Extradition	San Sebastian, ES	26 May 1989	9 / 13	Replaced
Agreement relating to Community patents	Patents	Luxembourg, LU	15 December 1989	7 / 12	Abandoned
Maintenance Convention	Child maintenance	Rome, IT	6 November 1990	5 / 12	Replaced
Transfer of Criminal Proceedings Agreement	Transfer of criminal proceedings	Rome, IT	6 November 1990	2 / 9	Abandoned
Convention on the Enforcement of Foreign Criminal Sentences	Criminal sentences	Brussels, BE	13 November 1991	5 / 12	Replaced
Convention on simplified extradition procedure	Extradition	Brussels, BE	10 March 1995	20 / 21	Replaced
Convention on Insolvency Proceedings	International insolvency	Brussels, BE	November 23, 1995	0 / 14	Replaced
Service Convention	Service of documents	Brussels, BE	26 May 1997	1 / 15	Replaced
Convention on matrimonial matters	Divorce and child custody	Brussels, BE	28 May 1998	0 / 15	Replaced
Convention on driving disqualifications	Driving disqualifications	Brussels, BE	17 June 1998	7 / 19	Repealed
EU claims agreement	Claims for damages during EU crisis management operations	Brussels, BE	28 April 2004	26 / 28	Under ratification
Treaty Establishing the European Stability Mechanism source text	European Stability Mechanism	Brussels, BE	11 July 2011	0 / 17	Replaced

See also

• European Union law

References

Sources

• P. Craig & G. de Búrca, EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials (4th edn OUP 2008).

External links

• Constitution of the European Union
• Summary of EU treaties – Europa
• Full texts of EU treaties – EUR-Lex (Europa)

The Treaty is divided into several parts:

Article 1: Preamble

• Changes to the Treaty on European Union
  (Article 1, Page 3-40)
• Changes to the Treaty establishing the European Community
  (Article 2, Page 41-150)
• Final provisions
  (Article 3-7, Page 151-152)
• Protocols
• Declarations

A typical example from the Treaty of Lisbon text is:

Article 7 shall be amended as follows: (a) throughout the Article, the word "assent" shall be replaced by "consent", the reference to breach "of principles mentioned in Article 6(1)" shall be replaced by a reference to breach "of the values referred to in Article 2" and the words "of this Treaty" shall be replaced by "of the Treaties";

Whereas the European Constitution was a single piece of text, the basis of the European Union under the Treaty of Lisbon will be three treaties with equal legal value; The treaty on European Union, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the latter made legally binding in Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union.

Fundamental Rights Charter

Main article: Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

The 54-article Charter of Fundamental Rights lists citizens' political, social and economic rights. It is intended to make sure that European Union regulations and directives do not contradict the European Convention on Human Rights which is ratified by all EU Member States (and to which the EU as a whole would accede under the Treaty of Lisbon). In the rejected EU Constitution it was integrated into the text of the treaty and was legally binding. The UK, as one of the two countries with a common law legal system in the EU and a largely uncodified Constitution, was against making it legally binding over domestic law. The German presidency suggested a reference to it with a single article in the "Reform Treaty', maintaining that it should be legally binding. Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union elevates the Charter to the same legal value as the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

Compared to the Constitution

Most of the institutional innovations that were agreed upon in the European Constitution, are kept in the Treaty of Lisbon. The most substantial difference is arguably that the Treaty of Lisbon amends existing treaties rather than replacing them with a single document. Other changes include that the planned 'Union Minister for Foreign Affairs' has been renamed 'High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy', that the symbols are removed from the text, and that some Member States have negotiated new opt-outs from certain areas of policy. Climate change was not mentioned in the Constitution, but is in the Treaty of Lisbon.

It was agreed to drop most of the state-like features such as the name "constitution", as well as reference to EU symbols (flag, anthem, motto). However all the symbols are already in use, the flag having been adopted in the 1980s, and the Constitution would have just given them a more formal status. So despite being dropped from the text, use will continue: indeed the Parliament, in response to the dropping of the symbols, announced it would make greater use of them. In line with eliminating all "state-like" terminology and symbols, new names for various types of EU legislation have been dropped, in particular the proposal to rename EU regulations and directives as EU "laws". Sixteen EU-countries have declared their allegiance to these symbols in the new treaty, although the annexed declaration is not legally binding.

Amendments

Key innovations

A European Council President with a 2½ year term replacing the President-in-Office. A single foreign affairs post created by merging the External Relations Commissioner with the CFSP High Representative. Charter of Fundamental Rights from 2000 made legally binding. Pillars merged to one legal person enabling the EU to sign treaties. Council of the EU divided into the 'Council of Ministers' and the 'European Council'. More meetings to be held in public. Commission reduced to less than one commissioner per country. Nationalites will rotate regardless of country size. More relevant Parliament by extending codecision with the Councils to more areas of policy. An exit clause formalising countries' EU withdrawal.

More double majority voting to new areas of policy in the European Council and the Council of Ministers, from 2014 on. Common defence foreseen in that the ESDP leads to a common defence when the European Council decides to. National parliaments engaged by expanding scrutiny-time of legislation and enabling them to jointly compell the Commission to review or wihdraw legislation. Mutual solidarity obliged if a member state is object of a terrorist attack or the victim of a natural or man-made disaster. Citizens' initiatives to be considered by Commission if signed by 1 mill. citizens. Combating climate-change explicitly stated as an objective. An EU Public Prosecutor An External Action Service

Central Bank

Further information: European Central Bank

The European Central Bank will become an official institution.

Court of Justice

Further information: European Court of Justice

Court of Justice of the European Communities shall be known as the 'Court of Justice of the European Union'

European Council

Further information: European Council

The Council of the European Union would be abolished and split in two separate institutions, one being the European Council which is a body of heads of Member States' governments (either the president or the prime minister).

The Reform Treaty will introduce a new voting procedure in the European Council for legislation which do not require unanimous decisions. This so-called "qualified majority" is reached when a majority of all member countries (55%) who represent a majority of all citizens (65%) vote in favour of the proposal. When the European Council is not acting on a proposal of the Commission, the necessary majority of all member countries is increased to 72% while the population requirement stays the same. To block legislation at least 4 countries have to be against the proposal.

The current Nice treaty voting rules (that include a majority of countries (50% / 67%), voting weights (74%) and population (62%)) will remain in place until 2014. Between 2014 and 2017 a transitional phase will take place where the new qualified majority voting rules apply, 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.

Unanimity would still be required in the European Council in foreign policy and defence.

President of the European Council

Further information: President of the European Council

• Suggested candidates
• German Chancellor Angela Merkel
  German Chancellor Angela Merkel
• 
  Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair
• 
  Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
• 
  Luxembourgian Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker

The current post of President-in-Office of the European Council is loosely defined, with the Union's treaties stating only that the European Council shall be chaired by the head of government (or state) of the country holding the presidency of the European Union which rotates every six months. If ratified the new President of the European Council would be elected for a two and a half year term. The election would take place by a qualified majority among the members of the body, and the President can be removed by the same procedure. Unlike the President of the European Commission, there is no approval from the European Parliament.

The President's work would be largely administrative in coordinating the work of the Council and organising the meeting. It does however offer external representation of the council and the Union and reports to the European Parliament after Council meetings and at the beginning and end of his term.

In many newspapers this post is inaccurately being called "President of Europe" .

Council of Ministers

The other part of the abolished Council of the European Union, is the Council of Ministers which is an organised platform of meetings between national ministers of specific departments (e.g. finance- or foreign ministers).

President of the Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers would have an 18-month rotating Presidency shared by a trio of member countries, in an attempt to provide more continuity. The exception would be the Council's Foreign Affairs configuration, which would be chaired by the newly-created Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Parliament

Further information: European Parliament

The legislative power and relevance of the directly elected European Parliament would under the provisions of the Treaty of Lisbon, be increased by extending co-decision procedure with the Council to new areas of policy. This procedure would become the ordinary legislative procedure in the work of the Council and the Parliament, with the two of them together constituting a bi-cameral legislature.

Codecision would be used in new policy areas, increasing the Parliament's power and relevace.

In the few remaining areas (now called "special legislative procedures"), Parliament either has the right of consent to a Council measure, or vice-versa, except where the few cases where the old Consultation procedure applies (where the Council must consult the European Parliament before voting on the Commission proposal and take its views into account. It is not bound by the Parliament's position but only by the obligation to consult it. Parliament must be consulted again if the Council deviates too far from the initial proposal).

The Parliament also gains greater powers over the entirety of the EU budget, not just non-compulsory expenditure.

The number of MEPs would be permanently reduced to 750, plus the president.

National parliaments

National parliaments will be given a greater role in any reform of the EU Treaty (new Article 33 replacing Article 48) and in responding to new applications for membership (new Article 34 replacing Article 49). National parliaments will be able to veto measures furthering judicial cooperation in civil matters (new Article 69d).

Article 8c: National Parliaments shall contribute actively to the good functioning of the Union:

(a) through being informed by the institutions of the Union and having draft European legislative acts forwarded to them in accordance with the Protocol on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union;

(b) by seeing to it that the principle of subsidiarity is respected in accordance with the procedures provided for in the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality;

(c) by taking part, within the framework of the area of freedom, security and justice, in the evaluation mechanisms for the implementation of the Union policies in that area, in accordance with Article 64 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and through being involved in the political monitoring of Europol and the evaluation of Eurojust's activities in accordance with Articles 69k and 69h of that Treaty;

(d) by taking part in the revision procedures of the Treaties, in accordance with Article 33 of this Treaty;

(e) by being notified of applications for accession to the Union, in accordance with Article 34 of this Treaty;

(f) by taking part in the inter-parliamentary cooperation between national Parliaments and with the European Parliament, in accordance with the Protocol on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union.

Dutch prime minister Jan-Peter Balkenende insisted on a greater role for national parliaments.

These points were "red line" issues for Dutch prime minister Jan-Peter Balkenende who wanted a greater role for national parliaments in the EU decision making process.

Protocol 2 provides for a greater role of national parliaments in ensuring that EU measures comply with the principle of subsidiarity. In comparison with the proposed Constitution, the Reform Treaty allows national parliaments eight rather than six weeks to study European Commission legislative proposals and decide whether to send a reasoned opinion stating why the national parliament considers it to be incompatible with subsidiarity. National parliaments may vote to have the measure reviewed. If one third (or one quarter, where the proposed EU measure concerns freedom, justice and security) of votes are in favour of a review, the Commission will have to review the measure and if it decides to maintain it, must give a reasoned opinion to the Union legislator as to why it considers the measure to be compatible with subsidiarity.

Commission

The Commission of the European Communities will officially be renamed 'European Commission'.

The Treaty of Lisbon would reduce the size of the Commission from the present 27 Commissioners to 18. That would end the arrangement of having one for each Member State, which has existed since 1957. Commissioners are appointed for five year terms. The new system would mean that for five years in any fifteen year cycle, each country (regardless of size) would be without a commissioner. The reason for lowering the number of commissioners was that there is not enough tasks for 27, and increased effectiveness.

The person holding the new post of 'High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy' would automatically also be a Vice-President of the Commission.

Foreign relations

Main article: High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

The changes in foreign relations have been seen by some as the core changes in the treaty, in the same way the Single European Act had created a single market, the Maastricht Treaty had created the euro or the Treaty of Amsterdam created greater cooperation in justice and home affairs.

Foreign Relations is a policy area which under the Treaty of Lisbon still would require unanimity in the European Council. The Lisbon Treaty at Article 28A.7 contains what has been described by the EU Presidency (held by Slovenia in the first half of 2008) as a 'mutual defence clause'. This is a new departure for the EU, which hitherto has not had such a clause in its governing treaties.

The Treaty will merge the post of High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (currently held by Javier Solana) with the European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy (currently held by Benita Ferrero-Waldner), creating a 'High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy' in an effort to reduce the number of Commissioners, and coordinate the Union's foreign policy with greater consistency. The new High Representative will also become a Vice-President of the Commission and the administrator of the European Defence Agency. He or she will also get a diplomatic corps. The Constitution called this post the 'Union Foreign Minister'.

Several Member States feared that this post will undermine their national foreign policy, so the EU summit mandated that the IGC will agree to the following Declaration:

In addition to the specific procedures referred to in [paragraph 1 of Article 11], the Conference underlines that the provisions covering Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) including in relation to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and External Action Service will not affect the existing legal basis, responsibilities, and powers of each Member State in relation to the formulation and conduct of its foreign policy, its national diplomatic service, relations with third countries and participation in international organisations, including a Member State's membership of the Security Council of the UN.

The Conference also notes that the provisions covering CFSP do not give new powers to the Commission to initiate decisions or increase the role of the European Parliament.

The Conference also recalls that the provisions governing the CFSP do not prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of the Member States.

— Presidency conclusions

Legal personality and pillar collapse

See also: Legal person and Three pillars of the European Union

Under the existing treaties, only the European Communities pillar has its own legal personality. Under the new provisions, the three pillars would be merged into one legal personality called the European Union. The Treaty on European Union would after the Treaty of Lisbon state that "The Union shall replace and succeed the European Community." Hence, the existing names of EU institutions would have the word Community removed (e.g. the de facto title 'European Commission' will become official, replacing its treaty name of 'Commission of the European Communities'.)

This merger of the pillars, including the European Community, would partly finalise the progress of establishing various communities and treaty-bodies, that has been going on since around the 1950s. The defence body of Western European Union (WEU) would effectively also be absorbed by the EU, through European Defence Agency, which will be empowered under the Lisbon Treaty. The exeption is the EURATOM, which due to fears of sparking unnecessary opposition by people against nuclear power, was left out when the Constitution was drafted.

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 S: 4 March 1947 F: 8 September 1947 E: 8 September 1997

Brussels Treaty S: 17 March 1948 F: 25 August 1948 T: 30 June 2011

London and Washington treaties S: 5 May/4 April 1949 F: 3 August/24 August 1949

Paris treaties: ECSC and EDC S: 18 April 1951/27 May 1952 F: 23 July 1952/— E: 23 July 2002/—

Protocol Modifying and Completing the Brussels Treaty S: 23 October 1954 F: 6 May 1955

Rome treaties: EEC and EAEC S: 25 March 1957 F: 1 January 1958

WEU-CoE agreement S: 21 October 1959 F: 1 January 1960

Brussels (Merger) Treaty S: 8 April 1965 F: 1 July 1967

Davignon report S: 27 October 1970

European Council conclusions S: 2 December 1975

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 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 S: 13 December 2007 F: 1 December 2009

Defined policy areas

In the Lisbon Treaty the distribution of competences in various policy areas between Member States and the Union is explicitly stated in the following three categories:

Exclusive competence		Shared competence		Supporting competence
Union has exclusive competence to make directives and conclude international agreements when provided for in a Union legislative act.		Member States cannot exercise competence in areas where the Union has done so.		Union can carry out actions to support, coordinate or supplement Member States' actions.
customs union the establishing of the competition rules necessary for the functioning of the internal market monetary policy for the Member States whose currency is the euro the conservation of marine biological resources under the common fisheries policy common commercial policy		internal market social policy, for the aspects defined in this Treaty economic, social and territorial cohesion agriculture and fisheries, excluding the conservation of marine biological resources environment consumer protection transport trans-European networks energy area of freedom, security and justice common safety concerns in public health matters, for the aspects defined in this Treaty		protection and improvement of human health industry culture tourism education, youth, sport and vocational training civil protection administrative cooperation

Enlargement and secession

Main article: Enlargement of the European Union

  The European Union

  Expressed interest in membership

  Candidate

  Membership debate

The Treaty of Lisbon will introduce language on potential Member States having to adhere to the bloc's values if they want Union membership. A Dutch suggestion to enshrine the Copenhagen Criteria for further enlargement in the treaty has not been fully taken on board as there are fears it would lead to Court of Justice judges having the last word on who could join the EU, rather than political leaders. During the June 2007 summit Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, secured stronger enlargement criteria in the treaty..

The treaty introduces an exit clause for members wanting to withdraw from the Union. This formalises the procedure by stating that a member state must inform the European Council before it can terminate its membership. While there has been one instance where a territory has ceased to be part of the Community (Greenland in 1985), there is currently no regulated opportunity to exit the European Union.

A new provision in the Treaty of Lisbon is that the status of French, Dutch and Danish overseas territories can be changed more easily, by no longer requiring a full treaty revision. Instead, the European Council may, on the initiative of the member state concerned, change the status of an overseas country or territory (OCT) to an outermost region (OMR) or vice versa. This provision was included on a proposal by the Netherlands, which is investigating the future of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba in the European Union as part of an institutional reform process that is currently taking place in the Netherlands Antilles.

Climate change

The Treaty of Lisbon adds explicit sentences stating that combating climate change and global warming are targets of the Union.

Mutual Solidarity

Under the Treaty of Lisbon, Member States are obliged to assist if a member state is object of a terrorist attack or the victim of a natural or man-made disaster.

In addition, several provisions of the treaties have been amended to include solidarity in matters of energy supply and changes to the energy policy within the European Union.

Defence

The treaty foresees that the European Security and Defence Policy will lead to a common defence for the EU when the European Council unanimously decides to.

Special provisions for Member States

Main article: Opt-outs in the European Union

United Kingdom and Poland

The United Kingdom and Poland have both fought for the inclusion of a protocol to prevent the full application of the "Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union" by the European Court of Justice in their countries, although it would still bind the EU institutions and apply to the field of EU law:

Article 1

1. The Charter does not extend the ability of the Court of Justice of the European Union, or any court or tribunal of Poland or of the United Kingdom, to find that the laws, regulations or administrative provisions, practices or action of Poland or of the United Kingdom are inconsistent with the fundamental rights, freedoms and principles that it reaffirms.
2. In particular, and for the avoidance of doubt, nothing in Title IV of the Charter creates justiciable rights applicable to Poland or the United Kingdom except in so far as Poland or the United Kingdom has provided for such rights in its national law.
Article 2

To the extent that a provision of the Charter refers to national laws and practices, it shall only apply to Poland or the United Kingdom to the extent that the rights or principles that it contains are recognised in the law or practices of Poland or of the United Kingdom.

— Reform Treaty - Protocol (No 7)

Though the Civic Platform party in Poland had signalled during the 2007 parliamentary elections that it would not seek to opt-out from the Charter, Prime Minister Tusk has since stated that Poland will not sign up to the Charter. Tusk declared that the deals negotiated by the previous Polish government will be honoured, though suggested that Poland may eventually sign up to the Charter at a later date.

United Kingdom and Ireland

Ireland and the United Kingdom have opted out from the change from unanimous decisions to qualified majority voting in the sector of police and judicial affairs; this decision will be reviewed in Ireland three years after the treaty enters into force (if referendum allows). Both states will be able to opt-in on these voting issues on a case-by-case basis.

Member States can have opt-outs from some of these policy areas (e.g. UK opt-out from some legislation in the area of freedom, security and justice).

The Treaty will provide countries with a chance to opt out of certain EU policies in the area of police and criminal law – as pushed for by the UK, supported by the Czech Republic. Provisions in the Treaty framework draft from the June 2007 summit stated that the division of power between Member States and the Union is a two-way process, implying that powers can be taken back from the union.

Ratification

  Referendum ratification

  Parliamentary ratification

  Ratified

  Non ratified

The Lisbon Treaty was signed on 13 December, 2007 and is scheduled to be ratified in all Member States by the end of 2008, entering into force on 1 January 2009 ahead of the next European elections. If there is a delay in ratification pushing it beyond that date, it will come into force on the first day of the month following the last ratification. Most states have or will ratify through parliamentary vote. Ireland is however obliged to hold a referendum, due to provisions in its constitution. In some other countries, there have been unsuccessful calls for the government to hold referenda.

Hungary was the first member state to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon. Its national assembly voted on 17 December 2007.

Ratification processes by the signatories

Signatory	Final vote date	Chamber			AB	Deposition	ref.
Austria	9 April 2008	National Council
	9 April 2008	Federal Council
Belgium	9 April 2008	Chamber of Representatives
	6 March 2008	Senate	48	8	1
	Mid-July 2008	Brussels Regional Parliament
	Mid-July 2008	Flemish Parliament
	Mid-July 2008	Walloon Parliament
	Mid-July 2008	French Community Parliament
	Mid-July 2008	German-speaking Community Parliament
Bulgaria	21 March 2008	National Assembly	195	15	1
Cyprus	TBD	House of Representatives
Czech Republic	TBD	Chamber of Deputies
	TBD	Senate
Denmark	June 2008	Diet
Estonia	May 2008	Diet
Finland incl. Åland	Autumn 2008	Parliament
	TBD	Åland Parliament
France	7 February 2008	National Assembly	336	52	2	14 February 2008
	7 February 2008	Senate	265	42	13
Germany	23 May 2008	Federal Diet
	23 May 2008	Federal Council
Greece	Spring 2008	Assembly of the Greeks
Hungary	17 December 2007	National Assembly	325	5	14	6 February 2008
Ireland	June 2008	Referendum
	TBD	House of Representatives
	TBD	Senate
Italy	TBD	Chamber of Deputies
	TBD	Senate of the Republic
Latvia	April 2008	Diet
Lithuania	Before 9 May 2008	Diet
Luxembourg	June 2008	Chamber of Deputies
Malta	29 January 2008	House of Representatives	65	0	0	6 February 2008
Netherlands	Autumn 2008	First Chamber
	TBD	Second Chamber
Poland	April 2008	Sejm
	TBD	Senate
Portugal	23 April2008	Assembly of the Republic
Romania	4 February 2008	Parliament	387	1	1	11 March 2008
Slovakia	TBD	National Council
Slovenia	29 January 2008	National Assembly	74	6	0
Spain	TBD	Congress of Deputies
	TBD	Senate
Sweden	November 2008	Diet
United Kingdom incl.Gibraltar	11 March 2008	House of Commons	346	206	94
	April 2008	House of Lords
	TBD	Gibraltar Parliament
European Union	20 February 2008	European Parliament	525	115	29	N/A

Reactions

Following the June agreement German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier declared that in his view the only thing left to do was to draft the legal compromise reached in June into "legal provisions". Austrian foreign minister Ursula Plassnik concurred and added "the only thing left to do is get the language right and work on the legal details", and announced her confidence that within 12 weeks a treaty ready to sign could be prepared. This was echoed by José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, who stated that he was 'confident' that the 27 EU Member States would reach a political agreement on a new reform treaty for the bloc by October. He added that "We now have the draft treaty text. The political consensus that was reached at the last European council is now translated into legal language."

However, others such as Poland indicated they wished to re-open some areas. During June, Poland's Prime Minister had controversially stated that Poland would have a substantially larger population were it not for World War II. The president of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering declared that there should not be new negotiations on substance and that no agreement on a re-opening, as suggested for instance by Poland, should occur.

Germany

A court case at the Constitutional Court of Germany may delay the passage of the treaty.

Ireland

Further information: Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland

Ireland is the only EU member that is set to hold a public referendum on the Treaty, and not parliamentary vote, because the Irish constitution requires a referendum on amendments like those the Treaty of Lisbon will impose. An opinion poll released 27 January 2008 showed that 45% of voters would vote 'yes', 25% would vote 'no', and that 31% were undecided.

The government parties of Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrat are in favour of the treaty, but the other government party, the Green Party, is divided on the issue. At a special convention on 19 January 2008, the leadership of the Green Party failed to secure a two-thirds majority required to make support for the referendum official party policy. The result of the vote was 63% in favour. As a result, the Green Party itself will not participate in the referendum debate, although individual members are free to be involved in whatever side they choose. The Sinn Féin opposition party is the only Irish party that will campaign against the Lisbon Treaty. The main opposition parties of Fine Gael and the Labour Party are in favour. Sinn Féin, the Socialist Party and the Socialist Workers Party are opposed to the treaty, with Sinn Féin being the only party represented in the Oireachtas opposed to it.

The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has warned against making Ireland a 'battlefield' for eurosceptics across Europe. University College Dublin's invitation of French far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen is seen as an example of this.

The Government is planning to send bilingual booklets written in English and Irish, explaining the Treaty, to every Irish household (2.5 million).

United Kingdom

The Treaty of Lisbon was greeted with controversy in the United Kingdom. The main argument of the largest opposition party was that the ruling Labour Party had promised a referendum over the UK's ratification of the Constitutional Treaty proposal, but would not hold one on the Treaty of Lisbon. Most of the Conservative Party thought the similarities between the Treaty of Lisbon and the Constitution were too great. In response, the Government argue that the treaty does not require a referendum so long as certain 'red lines' are not crossed; i.e., that the UK continued to retain vetoes over collective foreign policy, common law (so the Charter of Fundamental Rights would be without legal effect) and social security and tax laws.

At the end of the debate on the Treaty in the House of Commons, an amendment was moved by the opposition Conservative Party that the Treaty be put to a national referendum, which subsequently failed. Despite this, the referendum amendment raised the profile of the Treaty debate higher than the preceding three weeks of debate time had achieved.

External links

Official websites

• Official website – Europa
  • Treaty of Lisbon text
  • Intergovernmental Conference 2007
  • Brussels European Council 21/22 June 2007, Presidency Conclusions
• Irish Government information site for the Reform Treaty – Irish Department of Foreign Affairs
• 10 Myths about the Reform Treaty – British Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Unofficial consolidated treaties and guides

• Consolidated treaties – europa-eu-audience
• Consolidated treaties – Reformvertrag2007
• The European Union Reform Treaty: How will it affect the UK? – Unlock Democracy

Media overviews

• Q&A: The Lisbon Treaty – BBC News
• The 'Treaty of Lisbon' – EurActiv
• The EU following the Lisbon Treaty – Eur-charts
• The new EU reform treaty – Federal Union
• Q&A: the EU reform treaty – The Times