Transcript Document

From Rome to Lisbon
The Reform Treaty
The European Union
I. WHERE DO WE COME
FROM?
Fifty years of EU Integration
The EU Integration Process
From Rome to Nice, a story of treaties
• Steel and Coal Community: Paris 1951 (expired 2002)
• European Economic Community: Rome 1957
• Single European Act (1987): achieving the Internal Market
• "The Maastricht Treaty“ (1992): Treaty on European Union The three "pillars" forming the European Union
• Treaty of Amsterdam (1997): visa, asylum, immigration
• Treaty of Nice (2001): Dealt mostly with institutional reform
The European Union
Institutions
European
Commission
Supervises
Proposes legislation
and budget
European
Parliament
Appoints
Council of
Ministers
Co-decision
National
Governments
Citizens
EU
law
Arbitrates
Court of
Justice
EU
budget
Supervises
Court of
Auditors
RESULT = An enlarged European Union at 50
Result = the Enlarged Europe at 50 (2)
• Stability, democracy on the European
continent
• EU decisions impact on a single market of
500M consumers …
• Leading role on key policy issues : trendsetter in Development, Climate Change,
norms and standards
• Promotion of shared values - peace,
democracy, human rights, free trade - on
the global stage
The European Union
II. Where are we
heading ?
An EU for the 21st
Century
The European Union
‘Reform Treaty’
• Drafted during an Inter-Governmental Conference and to be
ratified by mid-2009
• Fundamentals maintained, but without ‘Constitutional’ packaging
The Road to Lisbon:
(1) Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
•Constitution for Europe: a single text to replace
existing Treaties
• Drafted by the Convention on the Future of Europe
then endorsed by governments
• Adopted by European Council in June 2004 and signed
in Rome the same year
•But France and Netherlands referenda in 2005 =>
interruption of the ratification process
• Period of reflection ~ 2 years
The Road to Lisbon:
(2) The Reform Treaty
• June 2007: after 2 years of reflection, agreement at
the Berlin European Summit
• Detailed mandate for new ICG. Result = new Reform
Treaty
• Adopted by EU leaders at informal Summit on 18-19
October in Lisbon. To be signed officially in December
• Next step = ratification
Reform Treaty – Main objectives and features
• Overall objective: enable the EU to face new
challenges and give the EU a better institutional and
political basis to meet the expectations of its citizens
• Due to come into force by the next European
Parliament elections in 2009
• Lots of breakthroughs introduced by the Constitution
preserved, at least in substance if not in name,
(Foreign Minister)
What the Reform Treaty will change
The Reform Treaty will bring the EU and its citizens:
– A more democratic and transparent Europe
– More effective and streamlined Institutions
– A Union of rights and values, solidarity and
security, with clarity on its key objectives
– A bigger actor on the global stage
A More Democratic and Transparent Europe
• Reinforced democratic infrastructure
– More involvement of national parliaments in
EU affairs
– More transparency on legislative discussions
in the Council
– The Citizens' Initiative: one million citizens
can ask to bring forward an initiative
– Provisions for withdrawal from the EU
A More Democratic and Transparent
Europe (2)
• European Parliament given a greater role
with extension of the co-decision
legislative procedure
– justice and home affairs
– agriculture
– …and the budget
A more effective and streamlined
Europe (1)
• Revision of institutional system of the EU =
key aspect of new Treaty
• Reflects the need for the enlarged Union to
function more effectively
• And to adapt its policies to a fast-moving
world
=> streamlined procedures and new decision
making mechanisms
A more effective and streamlined Europe (2)
• Most important institutional reform = a new
voting system
– A fairer method to calculate qualified majority: double
majority system based on number of countries (at least 55%)
and population size (at least 65%)- Transition until 2014
– Extension of qualified majority voting to more than 40 new
cases
– Collective action inside the EU framework: 9 MS can work
together and use enhanced cooperation procedures
A more effective and streamlined
Europe (3)
• The Revised Ionnina Compromise
- Much debated in Lisbon (Poland)
- Issue of blocking minority
- 75% of a blocking minority can delay
decision
- Will be defined in a Council Decision
- Apply from 2014 when EU moves to new
double-majority voting system
A more effective and streamlined
Europe (4)
• More than 60 new areas decided by QMV:
- energy policy and climate change
- financial measures in the fight against terrorism
- Intellectual Property Protection
- Border control management
- Judicial and police cooperation
- Health and tourism....
A more effective and streamlined
Europe (5)
– The European Council wins full institution
status
– A permanent President for the European
Council
– A streamlined Commission (2014; 2/3 MS)
A more effective and streamlined
Europe (6)
– New distribution of seats in the European
Parliament with lower (96) and upper
limit(6)
– Third pillar (Justice and Home Affairs) is
« communitarised »
– End of distinction between "European
Community" and “European Union"
A Europe of rights and values, solidarity and
security (1)
• Imperatives of solidarity and
security brought to the forefront
– The new solidarity clause (energy given a
special status)
– A new horizontal social clause will give
prominence to the Union's commitment to
employment and social protection
– New provisions on civil protection,
humanitarian aid and public health
A Europe of rights and values, solidarity
and security (2)
• A new emphasis on the rights of
individuals as citizens in the Union
– The Charter of Fundamental Rights: civil,
political, economic and social rights which
the Union must respect
European Union Charter of
Fundamental Rights
• Proclaimed by the Presidents of the European
Parliament, the Council and the Commission in Nice,
December 2000.
• A single text setting out civil, political, economic and
social rights of all European citizens:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Dignity
Freedoms
Equality
Solidarity
Citizens' rights
Justice
European Union Charter of
Fundamental Rights (2)
• The charter of Fundamental Rights was an integral
part of the Constitution;
• In the Reform Treaty, instead it is cross-referenced
but is legally binding
• Will be used for the interpretation and
implementation of EU laws
• Due to the UK and Poland opting out, the charter of
Fundamental Rights will not be legally binding in these
states.
Europe as an actor on the global stage
• The Reform Treaty will improve the Union's
external policy tools
– A legal personality for the Union
– The new High Representative of the Union for
Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
– The European External Action Service
What’s next? Ratification
• Time frame: in the next 12 to 18 months
• Referendum? Ireland
• France: parliamentary procedure (early
08?)
• NL (and DK): probably no referendum
(no transfer of soverignity)
• UK – 69 strong Labour majority in House
of Commons
Reforming Europe Together
Member States cannot cope with the challenges of today or of
the future on their own: only a collective effort can provide the
right response.
We have a bedrock of core values – freedom, human dignity,
solidarity, tolerance, social justice, the rule of law – which have
proved their worth.
The test for Europe is the delivery of policies which meet the
expectations and aspirations of our citizens.
This is the task of the European Union, and this is why it needs
to have the right treaties, the right institutions and the right
working methods.
The European Union
www.deljpn.ec.europa.eu