Treaty of Lisbon (2007): Reforming the European Union

The Treaty of Lisbon is the agreement that reformed the European Union’s institutions and still provides its legal framework today. It was signed by the leaders of the 27 member states at the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon on 13 December 2007 and entered into force on 1 December 2009, after two Irish referendums and a tense delay in the Czech Republic. It rescued most of the reforms of a failed European constitution, creating new top jobs, changing voting rules and, for the first time, setting out how a country could leave the EU.

Background: a Union too big for its rules

By the early 2000s the EU’s founding treaties had been amended repeatedly, from the Treaty of Rome through the Maastricht Treaty to the Treaties of Amsterdam (1997) and Nice (2001). Many observers felt the result was confusing and that the institutions designed for six members could not work well for 25 or more, especially after the EU enlargement of 2004.

In December 2001 the Laeken Declaration launched a Convention on the Future of Europe, chaired by the former French president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. It brought together representatives of governments, national parliaments, the European Parliament and the Commission, and in 2003 it produced a draft constitution.

The failed constitution

The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was signed in Rome on 29 October 2004. It would have replaced the existing treaties with a single text and given the EU symbols such as a flag and anthem in treaty form, as well as a “Union Minister for Foreign Affairs”.

Each member state had to ratify it. Several did so, including Spain by referendum, but on 29 May 2005 French voters rejected the constitution, with about 55 per cent voting no. Three days later, on 1 June, Dutch voters rejected it by about 62 per cent. The reasons were varied, including worries about globalisation, enlargement, national sovereignty and domestic politics. EU leaders announced a “period of reflection”, and several governments postponed their own ratification.

From constitution to reform treaty

The German presidency of the EU in the first half of 2007, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, set out to break the deadlock. At the Brussels European Council of 21–23 June 2007 leaders agreed a detailed mandate for a new “reform treaty”. Instead of replacing the existing treaties, it would amend them, and it would drop the constitutional language and symbols that had alarmed voters.

The intergovernmental conference under the Portuguese presidency, led by Prime Minister José Sócrates, finished the text quickly. Leaders approved it at an informal summit in Lisbon on 18–19 October 2007, and it was signed at the Jerónimos Monastery on 13 December 2007. Several changes were made to win over reluctant governments. The United Kingdom secured opt-ins on justice and home affairs and a protocol on the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Poland obtained a delay before the new voting system took full effect, with transitional arrangements until 2017. The Netherlands pressed for a stronger role for national parliaments, and references to the supremacy of EU law were moved from the treaty text into a declaration.

Critics, including Giscard himself, argued that the substance was largely the same as the constitution; supporters stressed that the constitutional concept had been abandoned.

Ratification and the Irish referendums

This time almost every country ratified through its parliament. Ireland, whose constitution required a popular vote for such treaties, was the exception. On 12 June 2008 Irish voters rejected the treaty, with 53.4 per cent voting no. Concerns included the possible loss of an Irish member of the European Commission, military neutrality, tax policy and abortion.

EU leaders responded by agreeing that each member state would keep one Commissioner and by giving Ireland legal guarantees that the treaty did not affect its neutrality, taxation or constitutional provisions on ethical questions. In a second referendum on 2 October 2009, held amid a severe economic crisis, 67.1 per cent voted yes.

Other hurdles remained. The German Federal Constitutional Court ruled in June 2009 that the treaty was compatible with German law, but required stronger rights for the German parliament. Poland’s president Lech Kaczyński signed in October 2009. The Czech president Václav Klaus, a long-standing critic of the EU, delayed his signature until he obtained a promise of an exemption from the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and until the Czech Constitutional Court had approved the treaty. He signed on 3 November 2009, and the treaty entered into force on 1 December 2009.

What the treaty changed

The Lisbon Treaty amended the Treaty on European Union and renamed the Treaty establishing the European Community as the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Among its main reforms:

• A permanent President of the European Council, chosen for two and a half years, renewable once, instead of a rotating six-month chair. The Belgian prime minister Herman Van Rompuy was the first.
• A High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who is also a Vice-President of the Commission, supported by a new European External Action Service. Catherine Ashton of the United Kingdom was the first.
• Double majority voting in the Council from 2014: most decisions need the support of 55 per cent of member states representing 65 per cent of the EU population.
• More power for the European Parliament, with co-decision becoming the “ordinary legislative procedure” for most laws, including agriculture and justice.
• A legally binding Charter of Fundamental Rights, with special protocols for the United Kingdom and Poland.
• A role for national parliaments, which can object to proposals they consider breach the principle of subsidiarity, and a European Citizens’ Initiative allowing one million citizens to invite the Commission to propose legislation.
• Legal personality for the EU, and the abolition of the “three pillars” structure created at Maastricht.
• Article 50, a procedure for a member state to withdraw from the Union.

Legacy

The treaty settled the EU’s institutional framework after nearly a decade of debate, and no comprehensive treaty revision has followed since. Its new posts gave the Union a more permanent face, although the division of roles between the President of the European Council, the President of the Commission and the High Representative has sometimes caused confusion.

Its most unexpected legacy was Article 50. Intended partly as a reassurance to member states, it was used for the first time when the United Kingdom, following the Brexit referendum, notified its intention to leave on 29 March 2017. The treaty also framed the EU’s response to the eurozone crisis, which was already unfolding as it entered into force and led to new agreements outside and alongside the treaties.

Timeline

• 2001, December: The Laeken Declaration launches the Convention on the Future of Europe.
• 2004, 29 October: The constitutional treaty is signed in Rome.
• 2005, 29 May and 1 June: French and Dutch voters reject the constitution.
• 2007, 23 June: EU leaders agree the mandate for a reform treaty.
• 2007, 13 December: The Treaty of Lisbon is signed.
• 2008, 12 June: Irish voters reject the treaty.
• 2009, 2 October: A second Irish referendum approves it.
• 2009, 3 November: Czech President Václav Klaus signs the ratification.
• 2009, 1 December: The Treaty of Lisbon enters into force.

Why it matters

The Treaty of Lisbon defines how the European Union works today, from who chairs its summits to how laws are passed and how a country may leave. The difficult path to its adoption also showed the growing gap between European elites and many voters over the direction of European integration.