Treaty of Lisbon
The 2007 Treaty of Lisbon reformed the European Union’s institutions and decision-making. It entered into force in 2009 and clarified competences, introduced new offices, and strengthened citizens’ rights.
Overview
The Treaty of Lisbon was signed on 13 December 2007 and entered into force on 1 December 2009. It amended the existing set of EU treaties rather than replacing them with a single constitution, and it is the primary framework that defines how the European Union operates. The treaty codified institutional changes and clarified the balance of powers between EU institutions and the governments of the member states, while reaffirming the goals of the European Union.
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Main provisions and institutional changes
The treaty introduced a number of practical and legal changes designed to improve decision-making and democratic accountability. Key elements include:
- Creation of a permanent President of the European Council to provide continuity of leadership.
- Strengthening the role of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to coordinate external relations.
- Recognition of the EU’s legal personality, enabling the Union to sign international agreements as a single entity.
- Making the Charter of Fundamental Rights legally binding in most areas of EU activity.
- Broadening the use of qualified majority voting and extending the ordinary legislative procedure (formerly co-decision) to more policy fields.
- Introducing the citizens’ initiative, giving EU residents a way to ask the Commission to propose legislation.
- Clarifying the role of national parliaments through subsidiarity checks.
History and ratification
The Treaty of Lisbon built on earlier foundational agreements such as the Treaty of Rome and the Treaty of Maastricht. It followed a period of constitutional debate: a proposed EU Constitution was rejected in referendums in some countries, and the Lisbon text reworked many of the same reforms into amendments to existing treaties rather than a single constitutional document (constitutional debate). Ratification required approval by all member states, and one country held a second referendum before consenting, which illustrated the political sensitivity of treaty reform.
Significance, uses and examples
By streamlining procedures and strengthening common external representation, the treaty aimed to make the EU more effective at policymaking and diplomacy. For example, the enhanced legislative role of the European Parliament and expanded qualified majority voting accelerated decision processes in areas such as climate policy and trade. The citizens’ initiative has been used by civil society groups to raise issues at the EU level, and national parliaments now have formal means to influence EU proposals.
Notable distinctions and legacy
The Treaty of Lisbon is often described as a pragmatic compromise: it delivered many structural reforms without adopting the label of a constitution. It left the EU as a union of sovereign states while giving it clearer legal instruments for collective action. Its legacy includes a more coherent external policy apparatus, clearer division of competences, and procedural tools intended to increase transparency and democratic scrutiny across the Union.
Further reading
For concise guides and official texts, consult institutional summaries and treaty texts linked by national and EU bodies: Member state information, EU institutional pages, overviews of the constitutional debate, and historic treaty texts such as the Treaty of Rome and the Treaty of Maastricht.
Structure
Behind the EU Constitutional Treaty signed in 2004 had been the concept of repealing all existing EU treaties (Art. IV-437 TEU) and replacing them with a single text called "Constitution". However, after the Constitutional Treaty was defeated by referenda in France and the Netherlands in 2005, this objective was explicitly abandoned in the mandate given in 2007 to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Reform Treaty. Instead, the substance of the Constitutional Treaty was incorporated into the existing treaty.
The Lisbon Treaty is therefore an "amending treaty", consisting essentially of the changes adopted to the previous treaties. It is structured as follows:
| I. |
| PreambleAmendments to |
The EU thus continues to be based on several treaties. The most important of these are the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), which was renamed the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) by the Treaty of Lisbon. This name change occurred because, due to the changed structure of the EU, the European Community no longer existed as an institution with its own name; all its functions were taken over by the EU.
In addition to the two main treaties, other documents to which the EU Treaty refers are part of EU primary law. These are 37 protocols and 2 annexes (cf. Art. 51 EU Treaty) as well as the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (cf. Art. 6 para. 1 EU Treaty). In addition, according to Art. 6 (2) of the EU Treaty, the EU is to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The 65 declarations annexed to the Final Act and the "Explanations on the Charter of Fundamental Rights" do not form part of the treaties in the absence of a special order and thus do not belong to primary law. However, both serve as an aid to interpretation (within the meaning of Article 31 (2) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties) and can be used, for example, to support court decisions. The declarations annexed to the Treaty of Lisbon clarify positions of individual or all Member States on certain aspects.
Chronology
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Questions and answers
Q: What is the Treaty of Lisbon?
A: The Treaty of Lisbon was signed on 13 December 2007 between 27 European states that are members of the European Union (EU).
Q: When did the Treaty of Lisbon become effective?
A: The Treaty of Lisbon became effective on December 1, 2009.
Q: Is the Treaty of Lisbon a constitution?
A: No, the Treaty of Lisbon is not a constitution.
Q: What does the Treaty of Lisbon give to the European Union?
A: The Treaty of Lisbon gives the European Union new things, such as a common set of rules that the member states have agreed to use on subjects where they have decided to work together.
Q: How does the Treaty of Lisbon compare to previous treaties?
A: The Treaty of Lisbon does better than previous treaties such as the Treaty of Rome and the Treaty of Maastricht.
Q: What is the purpose of the Treaty of Lisbon?
A: The purpose of the Treaty of Lisbon is to define the European Union.
Q: How many European states signed the Treaty of Lisbon?
A: 27 European states that are members of the European Union (EU) signed the Treaty of Lisbon.
Related articles
Author
AlegsaOnline.com Treaty of Lisbon Leandro Alegsa
URL: https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/101296
Sources
- web.archive.org : "Wayback Machine"