The Reform Treaty

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The Reform Treaty
From Rome to Lisbon
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The European Union

• WHERE DO WE COME FROM?
• Fifty years of EU Integration

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The EU Integration ProcessFrom 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

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The European Union Institutions
European Commission
Appoints
Supervises
Proposes legislation and budget
European Parliament
Council of Ministers
Co-decision
National Governments
Citizens
EU law
EU budget
Arbitrates
Supervises
Court of Justice
Court of Auditors
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RESULT An enlarged European Union at 50
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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 trend-setter
  in Development, Climate Change, norms and
  standards
• Promotion of shared values - peace, democracy,
  human rights, free trade - on the global stage

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II. Where are we heading ? An EU for the 21st
Century
The European Union
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The European Union Reform Treaty

• Drafted during an Inter-Governmental Conference
  and to be ratified by mid-2009
• Fundamentals maintained, but without
  Constitutional packaging

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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 gt
  interruption of the ratification process
• Period of reflection 2 years

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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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

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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
• gt streamlined procedures and new decision making
  mechanisms

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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

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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

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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....

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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)

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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"

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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Whats 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

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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.
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