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The Treaty of Lisbon (also known as the Reform Treaty) is a treaty designed to streamline the workings of the European Union (EU) with 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) in the process. The stated aim of the treaty is "to complete the process started by the Treaty of Amsterdam 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"

Prominent changes introduced with the Treaty of Lisbon include more qualified majority voting in the EU Council, increased involvement of the European Parliament in the legislative process through extended codecision with the EU Council, reduction of the number of Commissioners from 27 to 18, eliminating the pillar system, and the creation of a President of the European Council and a High Representative for Foreign Affairs to present a united position on EU policies (see more below). If ratified, the Treaty of Lisbon would also make the Charter of Fundamental Rights (human rights provisions) legally binding.

The negotiations on modifying the EU institutions began in 2001, first resulting in the European Constitution, which failed due to rejection in two referendums. The Treaty of Lisbon was signed on 13 December 2007 in Lisbon (as Portugal held the EU Council's Presidency at the time), and was planned to have been ratified in all member states by the end of 2008, so it could come into force before the 2009 European elections. However, the rejection of the Treaty on 12 June 2008 by the Irish electorate means that as it stands, it cannot currently be ratified.

Background
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 aims 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.

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, referendums held in the Netherlands and France 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 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.

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;

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 EU Council, with 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 the morning of 23 June 2007. The hardest part of the negotiations was reported to be Poland's insistence on 'square root' voting in the EU Council.

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 clarifying that the Constitutional approach was abandoned. Technically it was agreed that the Reform Treaty would amend both the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) 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, 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 part of the document, there would only be a reference to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union to make that text legally binding. Many of the amendments followed the procedures suggested by the Amato Group. After the council, 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. Another issue was that Dutch prime minister Jan-Peter Balkenende succeeded in a greater role for national parliaments in the EU decision making process, as he declared this to be non-negotiable for Dutch agreement.

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.

October European Council
The October European Council, led by Portugal's Prime Minister José Sócrates (President-in-Office of the European Council at the time), consisted of legal experts from all Member States scrutinising the final drafts of the Treaty. During the council, it became clear that the Reform Treaty would be called Treaty of Lisbon because its signing would take place in Lisbon, Portugal, the holder of Council's presidency at the time. This naming practice is in line with most EU treaties in the past (the Maastricht Treaty was signed in Maastricht etc.).

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. That included giving Poland 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.

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.

Ratification
[[Image:Treaty of Lisbon ratification.svg|thumb| National ratifications:

{{legend|#56eb4a|Deposited: 18 countries}} {{legend|#FFFF00|Not yet deposited: 5 countries}} {{legend|#00ffff|Not yet signed: 1 country}} {{legend|#0085b8|Pending: 2 countries}} {{legend|#c83737|Unauthorised: 1 country}} ]] In order to enter into legal force, the Treaty of Lisbon must be ratified in all Member States. If this does not happen as scheduled by the end of 2008, the Treaty will come into force on the first day of the month following the last ratification.

Most states have or will ratify in parliamentary processes. Due to a provision in its constitution, Ireland had to hold a referendum on the Treaty, which resulted in a rejection by 53.4% of those who voted, against 46.6% for. There were unsuccessful calls to governments to hold referendums in some other member states.

Hungary was the first to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon on 17 December 2007. Since that date, the number of Member States that have completed the ratification process has risen to twenty-three of the total twenty-seven, and the number of Member States that have deposited their ratification with the Government of Italy, which is the final step needed in order for the Treaty of Lisbon to enter into force, to eighteen.

Czech Republic
Ratification of the treaty in the Czech Republic has been suspended pending a ruling by the Constitutional Court to determine whether it is in line with the Czech Constitution. It was referred to the court by the Czech Senate. In June the Czech Government backed approval of the treaty by the Constitutional Court in its advisement submitted to the court, stating that "no substantial change in the arrangement of the democratic legal order [of the Czech Republic] will occur".

There has been speculation that the President of the Czech Republic could pose an obstacle to ratification of the treaty as he is staunchly eurosceptic and has called for the abandoning of the treaty even referring to it as "dead" after the Irish referendum (the only leader to have done so), stating that he would not sign the treaty unless Ireland had ratified before. Under the Czech Constitution ratification requires a presidential signature, though it is unlikely to be withheld should both houses of parliament approve the treaty.

Finland - Åland Islands
The Åland Islands, an autonomous region in Finland, will vote about the Treaty in the regional parliament. A two-thirds majority of the given votes will be required for the Treaty to be accepted. The process has begun, but no date for the vote has yet been set.

The regional (Åland) and the central (Finland) government are currently negotiating how EU-related issues concerning Åland will be treated in the future. The Åland government has put forward four requests that will have to be resolved before accepting the Treaty:


 * An own seat in the European Parliament.
 * Right to appear before the European Court of Justice (currently Åland is represented by Finland).
 * Participation in the control of the principle of subsidiarity.
 * Participation in the meetings of the Council.

At a press conference on 2 September 2008, the Åland government presented the current outcome of the negotiations:


 * No seat in the European Parliament for now.
 * The right to appear in court and the control of the principle of subsidiarity will be added to the autonomy law.
 * The representation in the Council is already possible with the current autonomy law, but will be more formalized.
 * A new document of principles regarding EU issues will be written.

No changes in the Treaty itself have been proposed. A rejection of the Treaty on Åland would not prevent it in the rest of Finland and the Union.

Finland is set to lose one Member of European Parliament in accordance with both the Treaties of Nice and Lisbon. Åland wishes to maintain their own representative in the European Parliament but this would not be sustainable after this change comes into effect due to the small minority that would be represented compared with the representation of the rest of the Finnish population.

Ireland
Following a 1987 decision of the Supreme Court of Ireland, international treaties that might be in conflict with the Constitution of Ireland require the assent of the people to amend it so as to permit ratification. Any such amendment needs to be put to a public vote. Thus Ireland was the only Member State that held a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon, in addition to a parliamentary vote.

All members from the three government parties in the Oireachtas supported the 'Yes' campaign. So did all opposition parties in the parliament, with the exception of Sinn Féin. The Green Party, whilst being a party in the government, did not officially take a line, having failed to reach a two-thirds majority either way at a party congress in January 2008, leaving members free to decide. Most Irish trade unions and business organisations supported the 'yes'-campaign also. Those campaigning for the 'No' vote included political party Sinn Féin, lobby group Libertas and the People Before Profit Alliance.

The result of the referendum on 12 June 2008 was in opposition to the treaty, with 53.4% against the Treaty and 46.6% in favour, in a 53.1% turnout. A week later, Eurobarometer conducted hours after the vote was released, indicating why the electorate voted as they did. 10 September, the government published the more in-depth research analysis on voters' states reasons for voting yes or no.

First plans for a revote appeared in July 2008: The term of the current European Commission would be extended until the Lisbon Treaty comes into force, member states would agree not to reduce the number of Commissioners and Ireland would hold another vote in September or October 2009 after receiving guarantees on abortion, taxation and military neutrality.

Germany
German ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon has currently been placed on hold. Whilst parliamentary ratification has been completed, formal ratification requires the signature of the President which is being withheld pending a ruling from the Constitutional Court on its compatibility with the Basic Law, Germany's constitution. This follows a challenge launched by German MP Peter Gauweiler a member of Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU), who sits in the Bundestag, claiming the Treaty unconstitutional. Mr Gauweiler launched a similar challenge to the European Constitution in 2005 but after its failure the Constitutional Court made no ruling and a presidential signature was never given.

Poland
Ratification in Poland is currently stalled awaiting presidential signature (so-called "ratification act"). The President has signed the bill which allows him to ratify the treaty (in that bill the procedure for granting consent to ratification was chosen according to Article 90.4 of the Polish constitution. ). It did not mean that he finished the ratification of the treaty. The President is not obliged to ratify the treaty.

The president, Lech Kaczyński, has yet to give his final signature and has cited that it would be pointless to do so before a solution to the Irish no vote is found. This situation is generally attributed to a domestic dispute between the two major political parties PO (the current government) and PiS (the presidential party). The PiS want the PO to enact a new law which would oblige the government to consider the opinion of the president and parliament before every summit of the European Council. The president has stated that he will not ratify (and could even consider vetoing) the treaty unless such a law is passed.

The president has come under increasing pressure from the French Presidency to ratify the treaty with President Sarkozy reminding him that he originally negotiated the treaty.

Despite of this, 52% of the Poles wants President Lech Kaczynski to sign the Lisbon Treaty ratification bill immediately.

Function
In line with the nature of most amending treaties, the Treaty of Lisbon is not intended to be read as an autonomous text. It consists of a number of amendments to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, the latter being renamed 'Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union' in the process. The Treaty on European Union would after being amended by the Treaty of Lisbon provide a reference to the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights, making that document legally binding. The Treaty on European Union, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Charter of Fundamental rights would have equal legal value and combined constitute the European Union's legal basis.

A typical amendment in 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";

Fundamental Rights Charter
The fifty-five articles of the Charter of Fundamental Rights list political, social and economic rights for EU citizens. 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 suggestion by the German presidency that a single reference to it with a single article in the amended treaties, maintaining that it should be legally binding, was implemented. Nevertheless, in an attached protocol, Poland and the United Kingdom have opt-outs from these provisions of the treaty. 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.

Amendments
{| style="background:#F3F9FF; padding-left: 7px; padding-bottom: 7px; float: right; border: 1px dashed #aaaaaa; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"
 * colspan=2|

Summary
replacing the rotating presidency.
 * valign=top style="font-size:85%" |
 * A European Council President
 * with a 2½ year term de facto
 * with a 2½ year term de facto

Relations Commissioner]] with the CFSP High Representative.
 * A single foreign affairs post
 * created by merging the [[European Commissioner for External Relations|External


 * Charter of Fundamental Rights
 * from 2000 made legally binding.

to sign treaties.
 * Pillars merged to 1 legal person
 * increasing the EU's competence

Legislative meetings of the EU Council to be held in public.
 * European Council separated
 * officially from the EU Council.

country. Nationalities would rotate regardless of country size.
 * Commission reduced
 * to less than one commissioner per

Councils to more areas of policy.
 * More powerful Parliament
 * by extending codecision with the

limitation to 27 Member States.
 * Further enlargement enabled
 * by removing the Nice Treaty

European Council and the EU Council, from 2014 on.
 * valign=top style="font-size:85%" |
 * More double majority voting
 * to new areas of policy in the

when the European Council unanimously decides to.
 * Common defence foreseen
 * in that the ESDP leads to one

legislation and enabling them to jointly compel the Commission to review or withdraw legislation.
 * National parliaments engaged
 * by expanding scrutiny-time of

terrorist attack or the victim of a natural or man-made disaster.
 * Mutual solidarity obliged
 * if a member state is object of a

Commission if signed by 1 mill. citizens.
 * Citizens' petitions
 * to be considered by the


 * Combating climate change
 * explicitly stated as an objective.


 * An EU Public Prosecutor
 * An External Action Service
 * Membership withdrawal clause
 * }

Central Bank
The European Central Bank would become an official institution. The Treaty of Lisbon would declare the euro to be the official currency of the Union, although in practice not affecting the current Eurozone enlargement process or national opt-outs of the monetary union.

Court of Justice
The Treaty of Lisbon renames the Court of Justice of the European Communities the 'Court of Justice of the European Union'.

A new 'emergency' procedure will be introduced into the preliminary reference system, which will allow the Court of Justice to act "with the minimum of delay" when a case involves an individual in custody.

The ECJ's jurisdiction will continue to be excluded from matters of foreign policy, though it will have new jurisdiction to review foreign policy sanction measures. It will also have jurisdiction over certain 'Area of Freedom, Security and Justice' (AFSJ) matters not concerning policing and criminal cooperation.

Court of First Instance
The Court of First Instance would be renamed the 'General Court'.

Council
The remaining part of the Council of the European Union will still be an organised platform of meetings between national ministers of specific departments (e.g. finance- or foreign ministers). Legislative procedural meetings that include debate and voting will be held in public (televised).

The Treaty of Lisbon would expand the use of qualified majority voting (QMV), by making it the standard voting procedure. Though some areas of policy still require unanimous decisions (notably in foreign policy, defence and taxation). QMV is reached when a majority of all member countries (55%) who represent a majority of all citizens (65%) vote in favour of a proposal. When the 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%) would remain in place until 2014. Between 2014 and 2017 a transitional phase would 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" would take effect, which allows small minorities of EU states to call for re-examination of EU decisions they do not like.

Presidency of the Council
The Council would have an 18-month rotating Presidency shared by a trio of Member States, with the purpose of providing more continuity. The exception would be the Council's Foreign Affairs configuration, which would be chaired by the newly-created post of Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

European Council
The European Council of national heads of government or heads of state (either the prime minister or the president), will officially be separated from the Council of the European Union (national ministers for specific areas of policy).

President of the European Council
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Luxembourgian Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker have been among others suggested as possible candidate forerunners. 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 or her term.

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

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.

In the few remaining areas (currently 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 number of MEPs would be permanently reduced to 750, in addition to the President of the Parliament. If the treaty does not come into effect before 2009, the number of MEPs will be permanently reduced to 732 according to the Treaty of Nice. The Lisbon treaty also reduces the maximum number of MEPs from each member state from 99 to 96 (applies to Germany) and increases the minimal number from 5 to 6 (applies to Estonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta).

The Parliament also gains greater powers over the entirety of the EU budget, and its competence is extended from 'obligatory' expenditure to include the budget in its entirety. On the other hand, the Commission would not longer be obliged to submit a preliminary draft budget to the Council, but to submit the budget proposal directly.

National parliaments
The Treaty of Lisbon expands the role of Member States' parliaments in the work and legislative processes of the EU institutions and bodies.

Greater role in responding to new applications for membership (new Article 34 replacing Article 49). National parliaments would be able to veto measures furthering judicial cooperation in civil matters (new Article 69d).

Article 8c says among other things that national parliaments are to contribute to the good functioning of the Union:
 * through being informed by, and receive draft legislation from Union institutions.
 * by seeing to it that the principle of subsidiarity is respected.
 * by taking part in the evaluation mechanisms for the implementation of the Union policies in the area of freedom, security and justice.
 * through being involved in the political monitoring of Europol and the evaluation of Eurojust's activities.
 * by being notified of applications for EU accession.
 * by taking part in the inter-parliamentary cooperation between national parliaments and with the European Parliament.

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 national parliaments are in favour of a review, the Commission would 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 would 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 at least one for each Member State at all times, 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 is that there are 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
The changes in foreign relations have been seen by some as the core changes in the treaty, in the same way as the Single European Act created a single market, the Maastricht Treaty 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.

Foreign High Representative
The Treaty of Lisbon would create a 'High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy' from two existing posts currently held by Javier Solana and Benita Ferrero-Waldner. The Treaty would 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 would also become a Vice-President of the Commission, the administrator of the European Defence Agency and the Secretary-General of the Council. He or she would also get an External Action Service and a right to propose defence or security missions. The Constitution called this post the 'Union Foreign Minister'.

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

[...]the provisions covering Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) including in relation to the (new) High Representative would 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 UN Security Council.

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.

Legal personality and pillar collapse
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' would 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 the European Defence Agency, which would gain a legal role under the Lisbon Treaty. The exception is the EURATOM, which due to fears of sparking opposition by people against nuclear power, was left out when the Constitution was drafted.

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:

Enlargement and secession
The Treaty of Lisbon would 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.

Revision procedures
The Process for revision of the Treaties is divided into the ordinary revision procedure and simplified revision procedure. In the ordinary procedure the government of a Member State, the European Parliament or the Commission submits proposed amendments to the Council which submits them to the European Council. The national parliaments are also notified on the proposal. The European Council, after consulting the European Parliament and Commission, decides by simple majority whether to examine the amendments. If approved, the Presidency of the European Council will then convene a Convention composed of representatives of the national Parliaments, of the Heads of State or Government of the Member States, of the European Parliament and of the Commission. In the case of institutional changes in the monetary area the European Central Bank shall also be consulted. After examining the proposals the Convention will adopt by consensus a recommendation to a conference of representatives of the governments of the Member States convened by the President of the Council to determine by common accord the amendments to be made to the Treaties. Following this the amendments will go through the ratification process in each Member State. The European Council can decide by simple majority after consulting the Commission and with consent of the European Parliament to bypass the Convention process and proceed straight to the conference of representatives.

In the simplified procedure proposals for amendments to Part Three of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, dealing with internal policy and action of the Union, can be submitted directly to the European Council. The European Council then decides by unanimity on amendments to the provisions after consulting the European Parliament and the Commission, and the European Central Bank in the case of institutional changes in the monetary area. The Treaties also provide for areas decided by unanimity to be changed to qualified majority after unanimous vote by the European Council after getting the consent of the European Parliament except areas with military implications or on defense. The European Council can also decide by unanimity to change areas decided by special legislative procedures to be decided by the ordinary legislative procedure after getting consent of the European Parliament.

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 should assist if a member state is subject to a terrorist attack or the victim of a natural or man-made disaster (but any joint military action is subject to the provisions of Article 31 of the consolidated Treaty of European Union, which recognises various national concerns). 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 EU.

Defence
The treaty foresees that the European Security and Defence Policy will lead to a common defence agreement for the EU if and when the European Council (national leaders) resolves unanimously to do so and provided that all member states give their approval through their usual constitutional procedures.

United Kingdom and Poland
The "Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union" by the European Court of Justice is not to apply fully to the United Kingdom and Poland, 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.

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.

Ireland and United Kingdom
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 approves). Both states will be able to opt in to 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 the option to opt out of certain EU policies in the area of police and criminal law. 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.

Compared to the Constitutional Treaty
Most of the institutional innovations that were agreed upon in the European Constitution, are kept in the Treaty of Lisbon. The most prominent difference is arguably that the Treaty of Lisbon amends existing EU treaties, rather than re-founding the EU by replacing old texts with a single document with the status of a constitution. Other differences include:


 * The planned 'Union Minister for Foreign Affairs' has been renamed 'High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy'.
 * EU symbols like the flag, the motto and the anthem,  are not made legally binding in the Treaty of Lisbon. All of them are however already in use; e.g. the flag was adopted in the 1980s. Sixteen EU-countries have declared their allegiance to these symbols in the new treaty, although the annexed  declaration is not legally binding.
 * 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 EU directives as EU 'laws'.
 * Three EU Member States have negotiated additional opt-outs from certain areas of policy, particularly the UK (see above).
 * Due to Poland's pressure during the June Council in 2007, the new voting system will not enter into force before 2014.
 * Combating climate-change is explicitly stated as an objective of EU institutions in the Treaty of Lisbon.
 * The EU Constitution would have laid down as an objective of the EU the encouraging of "free and undistorted competition". Due to pressure from the French government, this phrase was not included in the Lisbon Treaty. Instead, the text relating to free and undistorted competition in Article 3 of the EC Treaty is kept and moved to Protocol 6 ("On the Internal Market and Competition"). There has been some debate over whether this will have an impact on EU Competition policy in future. Whilst French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared "We have obtained a major reorientation of the union's objectives", EU commissioner Neelie Kroes has refuted such claims, stating "putting it in a Protocol on the internal market clarifies that one cannot exist without the other. They have moved the furniture round, but the house is still there. The Protocol is of equivalent status to the Treaty."