THE TREATY OF LISBON, THE EUROPEAN CONSTITUTION

Today, The Grandma has been reading about the Treaty of Lisbon, the constitutional basis of the European Union, that was signed on a day like today in 2007.

The Treaty of Lisbon, initially known as the Reform Treaty, is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU).

The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member states on 13 December 2007, entered into force on 1 December 2009.

It amends the Maastricht Treaty (1992), known in updated form as the Treaty on European Union (2007) or TEU, as well as the Treaty of Rome (1957), known in updated form as the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (2007) or TFEU.

It also amends the attached treaty protocols, as well as the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM).

Prominent changes included the move from unanimity to qualified majority voting in at least 45 policy areas in the Council of Ministers, a change in calculating such a majority to a new double majority, a more powerful European Parliament forming a bicameral legislature alongside the Council of Ministers under the ordinary legislative procedure, a consolidated legal personality for the EU and the creation of a long-term President of the European Council and a High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The Treaty also made the Union's bill of rights, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, legally binding. For the first time, the treaty gave member states the explicit legal right to leave the EU, and established a procedure by which to do so.

The stated aim of the treaty was to complete the process started by the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) and by the Treaty of Nice, with a view to enhancing the efficiency and democratic legitimacy of the Union and to improving the coherence of its action.

Opponents of the Treaty of Lisbon, such as former Danish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Jens-Peter Bonde, argued that it would centralize the EU, and weaken democracy by moving power away from national electorates. Supporters argue that it brings more checks and balances into the EU system, with stronger powers for the European Parliament and a new role for national parliaments.

More information: European Parliament

Negotiations to modify EU institutions began in 2001, resulting first in the proposed Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, which would have repealed the existing European treaties and replaced them with a constitution.

Although ratified by a majority of member states, this was abandoned after being rejected by 55% of French voters on 29 May 2005 and then by 61% of Dutch voters on 1 June 2005.

After a period of reflection, member states agreed instead to maintain the existing treaties and amend them, to bring into law a number of the reforms that had been envisaged in the abandoned constitution. An amending reform treaty was drawn up and signed in Lisbon in 2007.

It was originally intended to have been ratified by all member states by the end of 2008. This timetable failed, primarily due to the initial rejection of the Treaty in June 2008 by the Irish electorate, a decision which was reversed in a second referendum in October 2009 after Ireland secured a number of concessions related to the treaty.

The need to review the EU's constitutional framework, particularly in light of the 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 aiming to achieve these goals could be created. 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 final text of the proposed Constitution was agreed upon at the summit meeting on 18–19 June 2004 under the presidency of Ireland.

Until the Lisbon Treaty, the EU did not have any explicit law respecting the foreign investment regulations.

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 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, referendums held in France and the Netherlands rejected the European Constitution. While the majority of the Member States already had ratified the European Constitution, mostly through parliamentary ratification, although Spain and Luxembourg held referendums, due to the requirement of unanimity to amend the 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.

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.

More information: Fondation Robert Schuman

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 words in 70 articles.  In the Berlin Declaration, the EU leaders unofficially set a new timeline for the new treaty:

-21–23 June 2007. European Council meeting in Brussels, mandate for Intergovernmental Conference (IGC)

-23 July 2007. 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

-1 January 2009. Intended date of entry into force

More information: Proyectos

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