| Reform Treaty |
Article Index for Reform |
Website Links For Reform |
Information AboutReform Treaty |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT REFORM TREATY | |
| european constitution | |
| european union treaties | |
| 2007 in law | |
|
The Reform Treaty (also referred to as; "future institutional settlement" or "new legal basis", among others) is a proposed replacement for the Treaty Establishing A Constitution For Europe (European Constitution). The current draft is entitled the "'''Draft Treaty amending the Treaty On European Union and The Treaty Establishing The European Community '''" but it may soon become known as the '''Lisbon Treaty''' due to it being proposed to be signed on a European council meeting in Lisbon in October 2007. The proposed Constitution had failed ratification in France and the Netherlands in 2005. It had been ratified by 15 European Union member states but due to the requirement of unanimity in amending the EU's consitutional framework, the French and Dutch votes required EU leaders to amend the procedures and content of a new EU treaty. In June 2007, the European Council reached an agreement on the framework of a new treaty, which shall be finalised during an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) that started on 23 July of the same year and is expected to last about 3 months. It is expected to be signed by all member states in October of 2007 and ratified by all member countries in time to come into force before the 2009 European Elections .1 EVENTS LEADING TO THE FIRST DRAFT OF THE REFORM TREATY The failed European Constitution The need to review the EU's constitutional framework, particularly in light of the impending 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, but the treaty was widely regarded as not having gone far enough. The Laeken Declaration of December 2001 committed the EU to improving Democracy , Transparency and efficiency, and set out the process by which a constitution could be arrived at. 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 Convention consisted mainly of representatives of national parliaments, not only from existing member states but also from candidate countries, as well as representatives of Heads Of State and Government . It published its final draft in July 2003. 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 , Dutch and French voters rejected the European Constitution in national Referendum s. While the majority of the EU member states already had ratified the European Constitution, due to the requirement of unanimity to amend the constitutional treates of the EU, this led to a "period of reflection" and the political end of the proposed European Constitution. Reaching agreement on an amended new EU treaty 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-2009.2 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. Timeline for the new Reform Treaty In the Berlin Declaration, the EU leaders unofficially set a new timeline for the new treaty: (actual, or proposed) June negotiations 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 Union, with Germany's 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 till 5 a.m. on Saturday morning, 23 June 2007 . Agreement was reached on a 16-page "mandate" 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 text 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 recommend limiting the application of Charter of fundamental human rights within the EU (a potential opting-out provision for the UK). 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).34 In the June meeting, the name "Reform Treaty" also emerged, finally eliminating the name "Constitution for Europe" for the new EU treaty. Technically it was agreed that the Reform Treaty would amend both the Treaty On European Union and the Treaty Establishing The European Community 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 (EC-Treaty), 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 just like in the European Constitution, there would be a reference to the Charter Of Fundamental Rights Of The European Union to make it legally binding. Many of the amendments followed the procedures as suggested by the Amato Group . PORTUGESE INTERGOVERNMENTAL CONFERENCE Start of the Intergovermental Conference (IGC) ''' '' President-in-Office will lead the negotiations in the Lisbon meeting in October 2007 to sign the Reform Treaty]] 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 July 23 , 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. 5 Participants 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 .6 Desire for renegotiating following the June agreement Before the opening of the IGC, the Polish government expressed a desire to go back on the June agreement, notably over the voting system, but relented due to a desire not to be seen as the sole trouble maker over the negotiations and due to political pressure by most other European member states.7 However, according to some media reports, during the drafting process, Poland and Ireland may join the UK in its opt-out of the Charter on human rights, and Poland may call for further codification of rules regarding the ability of countries to delay legislation.89 Despite an opt-out for Ireland having been negotiated, the ICTU has has stated it will push for a no vote, if the opt-out is exercised.10 Proposed end of the IGC and signing of the Reform Treaty It is currently planned to close this conference, mainly consisting of legal experts of all member states, at Council meetings on 18 and 19 October, 2007. As the IGC is held in Lisbon and the European Council meeting in October will take place in Lisbon as well, it is likely the treaty will be called the ''"Lisbon Treaty"'' in the style of past treaties (excluding the Constitution's IGC in Rome); the Maastricht Treaty in Maastricht (1992), the Amsterdam Treaty in Amsterdam (1997), and the Nice Treaty in Nice (2001). It would be signed either at the conclusion of the IGC or if an agreement is not reached by then, probably in December. CONTENT OF THE REFORM TREATY Key features
: — Double Majority Voting in the European Council delayed by Poland.
: — Would have few formal powers, but would give the EU Strategic Leadership and Represent the bloc on the world stage. 2.5 year term.
: — The directly elected European Parliament gain power and the European Commission (chosen by the EU Council ) loses power and importance.
: — The External Relations Commissioner Post merged into the current seat held by Javier Solana .
: — Enables the EU to sign International Treaties .
: — The Fundamental Rights Charter that was proclaimed by the EU in 2000 would be made legally binding. UK opt-out. The Reform Treaty is intended to keep most of the institutional innovations that were agreed upon in the European Constitution, such as a permanent EU president, a foreign minister (renamed " High Representative Of The Union For Foreign Affairs And Security Policy "), the same distribution of parliamentary seats, a reduced number of commissioners, a clause on withdrawal from the EU and a full Legal Personality (currently held only by the European Community ) allowing it to sign international agreements. In addition many of the political changes and substantial amendments to the old treaties in the European Constitution have also been kept. The following points are the major changes with regard to the European Constitution and the old treaties: Elimination of all "state-like" symbols and terminology It was agreed to drop most of the state-like features such as the name "constitution", as well as reference to EU symbols (flag, anthem, motto) that had been subject to major controversy in some European member states, particularly in the Netherlands and France, where voters rejected the European Constitution in referendums. 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 directives to be EU "laws". Opting-out of certain areas of European law In addition to the change in terminology and symbols, the Treaty will most probably provide countries with a chance to opt out of EU policies in the area of police and criminal law – as pushed for by the UK, supported by the Czech Republic.11 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. Voting in the Council of the European Union See Also: Voting in the Council of the European Union One of the key sticking points before the European Council meeting in June 2007 was Poland's demand for a change in the proposed voting system in the Council Of The European Union . The new proposed voting rule is intended to be more democratically balanced combining a qualified majority vote of all member countries (55%) with a 65% majority of all citizens (that is the total population in all member states that are for a proposal), in order to pass most of the legislation within the European Union. The new voting system favours large and small countries, while being problematic for mid-sized countries such as Poland due to the population requirement that decreases their political power. After hard negotiations the summit eventually agreed on a compromise in the early morning of June 23 , 2007 . According to the compromise, the current Nice treaty voting rules (that do not include combined vote and population criteria) remain in place until 2014. Between 2014 and 2017 a transitional phase is to 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 " will take effect, which allows small minorities of EU states to call for re-examination of EU decisions they do not like.12 Charter of Fundamental Rights See Also: Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union The 54-article Charter of Fundamental Rights lists citizens' political, social and economic rights. In the rejected EU Constitution it was integrated into the text of the treaty and was legally binding. The UK, however, was strongly against making it legally binding.13 The German presidency suggested a reference to it with a single article in the "Reform Treaty" but maintained that it should be legally binding, with possibly some extra safeguards to prevent the EU court's interpretation of the charter forcing a change of national laws.14 Due to the UK's insisting during the June 2007 summit, the Reform Treaty draft and/or the Charter will include a statement to the effect that it will not create new rights or encroach on UK law:
| |||
| |||
| {{cquoteIn Addition To The Specific Procedures Referred To In | "paragraph" class="copylinks" target="_blank">1 of Article 11 , the Conference underlines that the provisions covering Common Security and Defence Policy (CFSP) including in relation to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and External Action Service will 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 Security Council of the UN |
||
| |||
| The Reform Treaty Has Been Greeted With Controversy In The United Kingdom | "#ref_19">19 The ruling Labour Party had promised a referendum over the UK's ratification of the constitution, however Tony Blair announced that the new Reform Treaty would not be subject to a referendum Due to the Reform Treaty including many changes to the old European constitutional framework that the European Constitution proposed, media reported that the British public felt a referendum should still be held over the new Reform Treaty{{cite news url= |
||
|
|||
|
|