Lisbon Treaty

Ratification

On 13 December 2007, European heads of State and government officially signed the Lisbon Treaty. Before the Treaty could enter into force, it had to be ratified by all 27 Member States, in accordance with their respective constitutional procedures. The last country ratified the treaty in November 2009, after which it took effect as of 1 December 2009.

Important changes introduced by the Lisbon Treaty

The Lisbon Treaty amended previous treaties but did not replace them.
The Lisbon Treaty contains two main parts: the first part consists of an adaptation of the previous Treaty regarding the European Union, the second introduced changes to the Treaty establishing the European Community. The new Treaty renamed the previous one “Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union”.

The Lisbon Treaty introduced various innovations compared to previous treaties:

• Under the terms of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Union will be more democratic. It substantially extends the powers of the European Parliament as co-legislator, budgetary authority and political monitoring body. The Lisbon Treaty involves national parliaments more closely in the Union’s activities, especially regarding subsidiarity auditing.
It creates a right of the citizens’ initiative. It extends the powers of the European Court of Justice and recognises the constitutional structure of the Member States, including regionally autonomous matters.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights, which was previously only a policy statement, has not been included in the Treaty but there is a provision to the effect that the Union respect rights, different types of freedom and principles set out in the Charter. This provision gives the Charter the same legal force as the treaties. The United Kingdom, Poland and the Czech Republic have been allowed to derogate from this. This solution was preferred to other options which would have reduced the binding nature of the Charter to the Union’s institutions.

Moreover, the Lisbon Treaty makes the European Convention on Human Rights form part of the European Union.

• The action of the Union will be more efficient and coherent. The Lisbon Treaty introduces the Union’s unique legal personality. It extends the Community method and adjusts the institutional framework.

The Treaty makes it easier for the Council to make decisions. The qualified majority will be calculated differently and will have to reduce the possibility of lockout, even if the implementation of this mechanism is deferred. The application field of the qualified majority was significantly extended.

The Treaty gives the Union a new impetus, particularly to its external action and as regards freedom, security and justice. A new horizontal social clause was inserted. The Treaty establishes a particular legal base for services of general interest, complemented by a Protocol which did not feature in the Constitutional Treaty.

The Lisbon Treaty also explicitly refers to the conflict between climatic change and rounds off the legal base on energy.

• The Lisbon Treaty clarifies the scope of Union action. It puts an end to the artificial pillar division, while underlining the particular nature of policy on foreign affairs and security. It clarifies the respective powers of the Union and its Member States. Finally, the Treaty simplifies legislative and executive tools and establishes a hierarchy of standards.