Lisbon Treaty - everything you've ever wanted to know and never dared to ask! and no, it's not the same as the contitution.

The EU Reform Treaty – what it does

The Government supports the Treaty. It contains sensible changes to modernise the way the EU works. This will help it deliver more effectively for the citizens of its member countries. It is nothing to do with the proposed EU constitution which has been dropped.

In particular, it streamlines rules originally drawn up when the EU had fewer members. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, an extra 12 countries joined the EU – nearly doubling its membership from 15 to 27 over the past 4 years.

But this need to update arrangements in existing Treaties also explains why it is a complicated document.

The Structure of the Treaty

The Reform Treaty contains 7 articles.

The first amends the Treaty on European Union, originally signed in Maastricht in 1992.

The second modernises arrangements which have their roots in the agreement to set up the forerunner of the European Union in 1957 when there were just 6 founding members.

These two articles make up the bulk of the Treaty as they contain the detailed amendments.

The other 5 articles are short and are largely technical and legal arrangements, including the aim, if agreed, for the new treaty to come into force on 1 January 2009.

 

The key areas of the Treaty

The President of the European Council

The leaders of the EU Member States now normally meet 4 times a year at what are called European Councils to agree policies and action in a range of areas.

At the moment each country, as President of the Council, takes it in turn to chair these meetings for six months. But these frequent changes inevitably mean a lack of consistency and follow-through and don’t help the EU to work effectively.

The Reform Treaty will enable the EU leaders to choose a full-time President of the European Council who will hold the post for two and a half years. The President will chair meetings and help drive through policies agreed by the member states.

But it will continue to be the EU’s national leaders, not the President, who will take all the final decisions when they meet together.

The European Commission

It is the role of the European Commission to propose new laws, which are in turn considered by the European Parliament and the Member States. The Commission also helps ensure existing laws are implemented fairly.

The Commission is headed by a group (or “College”) of Commissioners. At the moment, each EU member nominates its own Commissioner but with 27 members this is making the Commission large and unwieldy.

The Reform Treaty will restrict, from 2014, the number of Commissioners to two-thirds of the number of Member States. The change should make the Commission more effective, especially when more countries join the EU.

The European Parliament

The European Parliament’s main role is to consider laws proposed by the Commission and approve them in agreement with the Member States.

The Treaty gives members of the European Parliament more of a say over EU decisions. At the same time, it reduces and caps the number of MEPs from the existing 786 to 750, no matter how many more countries join.

The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

The UK, like all EU Member States, decides its own foreign policy. But when EU Member States take the same view on a foreign policy issue, they can agree to pursue a common policy.

At the moment there are two people who can represent the EU where a common policy exists: the existing ‘High Representative’ – a post currently held by Javier Solana – and the External Relations Commissioner’ - currently Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

But this can be confusing for countries outside the EU, so the Reform Treaty merges these posts into a new job called The High Representative for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy. This will give the EU a more effective voice internationally.

The new High Representative will work on the basis of policies agreed by all Member States. Britain will continue to conduct its own foreign policy, and sit on the UN Security Council.

The European External Action Service

The European Union already has Commission and Council officials who work in offices around the world on agreed foreign policy issues. They will be brought together under a new External Action Service (EAS) to work under the High Representative. They will not replace Member States’ own diplomats.

European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP)

Closer co-operation across the EU on security and defence has been driven by the UK and France. The two countries wanted, for example, to improve the effectiveness of the EU when involved in peace-keeping and disaster relief operations.

The ESDP does not replace NATO nor affect individual countries’ own right to take military action. And doing anything in any of the areas covered by it has to be agreed by all Member States, even if they are not all taking part.

The Reform Treaty continues to develop this co-operation. It also sets out that Member States' should help each other in the event of a terrorist attack or disaster on their territory.

National Parliaments

The Reform Treaty strengthens the role of national parliaments by giving them a direct say in the EU’s law-making procedures for the first time.

National Parliaments will now be able to challenge a proposal if, for example, a third of them decide it affects an area they believe is a matter not for the EU but for individual member countries.

Qualified Majority Voting

Most EU decisions are already taken by majority vote - known as Qualified Majority Voting (QMV). Prime Ministers from Margaret Thatcher onwards have supported QMV because they believed it prevented individual countries blocking the progress – for example on the single market - that Britain wanted to see.

The Reform Treaty extends QMV to new areas to allow quicker decision making and progress in an EU of 27 states. But the UK has retained the right not to be bound by decisions, whatever other members might agree, on major areas of policy. These include justice and home affairs (including policing, our judicial system and control of our borders), social security, tax, foreign policy and defence. This is a major difference from the original constitution proposed

The Voting System

The Reform Treaty will introduce a new system of majority voting called Double Majority Voting (DMV) from 2014. This is more closely based on population size than the current systems so is fairer and also gives the UK a bigger say.

Under the new formula most decisions will be taken only if they are supported by at least 15 out of 27 Member States and they represent at least 65% of the EU’s population. The result of the new system and the UK’s large population by European standards is that our share of the vote increases from 8% to over 12%.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights

The Charter of Fundamental Rights brings together in one place, in plain words, the rights of citizens in the Member States.

It does not create new rights or take away existing ones. The rights it contains will continue to apply in the UK in exactly the same way they do now.

Legal Personality

The EU already makes international agreements on behalf of member countries where they have decided on a common policy. These include many important agreements on trade rules and development.

The EU has not, however, had up to now what lawyers call a single legal personality so it has signed up to these international obligations in different ways. The Reform Treaty ends this confusion by creating a single legal personality for the EU for the first time.

But the Member States will continue to task the EU to negotiate on their behalf in exactly the same way as they do now and will have final say over any agreements.

Simplified Treaty Revision

The Reform Treaty includes three new clauses known as ‘passerelle’ (or bridging) clauses which allow for existing EU treaties to be amended more easily.

The Treaty makes clear, however, that Member States retain control. They, and their national parliaments, must all be content before these clauses can be used.

And any fundamental change to the Treaties will still require an Intergovernmental Conference.

Justice and Home Affairs

The Reform Treaty will make qualified majority voting apply to Justice and Home Affairs (things like policing, judicial systems and control of borders). But decisions taken will not affect the UK unless we believe such co-operation is in our national interest.

The UK has won a special “opt-in” which means we can pick and choose where and when we want to cooperate with other Member States in these areas. It ensures the UK can keep control of its borders. The Reform Treaty also states for the first time that national security remains the sole responsibility of each Member State.

The Reform Treaty allows for the possibility of the creation of a European Public Prosecutor. However, the UK’s special opt-in also covers this new post and means we can prevent a European Public Prosecutor having any role in the UK.

Exit Clause

For the first time, the Reform Treaty will confirm that any Member State can leave the EU if it wants.

The Lisbon Treaty is not the same as the proposed EU constitution which has been dropped which also means there is nothing to hold a referendum on.

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