- Since the end of the Cold War, the European Union has grown considerably, going from 13 members in 1990 to 27 today:3 new countries joined in 1995 (Austria, Finland and Sweden), 10 new members in 2004 (Eastern European countries) as well as 2 other countries in 2007.
- To be able to absorb all these new members while remaining governable, the European Union has had to modify its institutions since the Maastricht Treaty of 1992:
- Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997 (entered into force in May 1999):it maintains the 3-pillar structure and proposes to set up an area of freedom, security and justice. It lays down the principle of "enhanced cooperation" (procedures allowing groups of countries to move forward more quickly if they wish);
- charter of fundamental rights in 2000:it provides the EU with its own system for the protection of fundamental rights;
- Treaty of Nice in 2001:it modifies the methods of decision-making within the institutions and establishes a system of "qualified double majority".
- To unify European law and take a new step in European construction, a draft European Constitution has been entrusted to a working group (Convention on the Future of Europe) led by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
- This project was rejected during the 2005 referendum by France and the Netherlands:this failure can be interpreted by the fear of certain countries of progressing too abruptly towards an authority with a federal voice and losing part of their sovereignty .
- One of the lessons to be learned from the failure of the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe is that political integration can only be achieved with the utmost care.
December 13, 2007
Characters
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Nicolas Sarkozy
Herman von Rompuy
Catherine Ashton
Procedure
The Treaty of Lisbon was drafted by an intergovernmental conference, convened during the European Council of June 2007. The political equation is then delicate, since it is necessary to take into account the concerns of France and the Netherlands resulting from the "no" of 2005 while finding formulas needed to continue the integration. This treaty aims to make up for the failures of the previous one. Several names are suggested:"mini-treaty" or "simplified treaty" (Nicholas Sarkozy). The treaty was finally signed on 13 December 2007 and its entry into force is scheduled for 1 st January 2009. It will not finally come into force until 1 st December 2009.
Several points can be mentioned:
- it gives the EU legal personality and gives the Charter of Fundamental Rights a legal value equivalent to that of the Treaties (if its principles are not respected, sanctions can be imposed);
- it brings together two texts:the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;
- it abolishes the “pillar” structure enshrined in the Maastricht Treaty;
- it establishes a permanent presidency of the European Council, a high representative of foreign policy (not to say "minister for foreign affairs";
- it strengthens the role of national parliaments (through the principle of subsidiarity);
- it clarifies the distribution of competences between the Union and the Member States and establishes a right of citizens' initiative.
Consequences
- In reality, the Treaty of Lisbon incorporates most of the advances contained in the draft Constitution (organization of institutions, decision-making process), but with more precautions.
- However, it introduces reservations and safeguards to try to reconcile the concerns of certain countries that do not want to lose their sovereignty to the benefit of the EU. The Treaty of Lisbon replaces certain notions or symbols with an overly federalist connotation:the word "Constitution" disappears, the symbols of sovereignty are deleted (European anthem, European flag even if they continue to exist), as is the reference to the primacy of the Union over that of the Member States is no longer enshrined in the Treaty.
- It allows, by a precaution of drafting, the redefinition of the architecture of the institutions towards more democracy and efficiency.
- With the 2008 crisis, the Treaty of Lisbon underwent substantial changes to better coordinate budgetary policies.