Lisbon Treaty brings new expectations for EU

Czech President Vaclav Klaus on Tuesday, November 3 signed the Treaty of Lisbon shortly after the country's top court approved the pact, and it was thus ratified by all the 27 EU member nations. Sweden, the EU rotary presidency country, promptly announced that the Lisbon Treaty would enter into force on December 1.

Fredrik Reinfeldt, the Prime Minister of Sweden, which holds the EU rotary presidency, said "After a long journey, the Treaty of Lisbon has reached the goal."

Javier Solana, the EU's current foreign policy chief, welcomed the arrival of a treaty "that will open a new era for the European Union (EU)." He said the treaty would give EU a "stronger voice on the international scene."

Swedish Prime Minister Reinfeldt said he wished to call a special summit "to add a footnote" to the document (the Lisbon Treaty) before he gives his final approval and wants the European Council "to take a decision on the footnote."

The "entry into force" of the Lisbon Treaty is a great event of milestone significance in the EU integration process and has brought new hopes to the political integration of EU. It not only resolves the institutional crisis that has harassed EU for years or even decades since the Treaty of Nis was signed long before, and helps improve access through the changing decision-making procedures. And it will also helps EU to play a more vital role on the international arena.

First, it will help EU build a new capacity for joint actions on the global stage. The EU new foreign policy and security chief (currently Javier Solana) would command or take change of a powerful external office made up of officials from EU, EC and 27 EU member nations. This office is entitled to the support from 186 representative outlets the EU has dispatched all over the world.

Besides, the Treaty of Lisbon would make EU, EC and the European Parliament (EP) more independent of the EU member nations. In accordance with the Treaty of Lisbon, legislative procedure will apply to more than 40 new policy areas, and a unanimous decision would be taken by EC and a majority of the EP. This will significantly raise the decision-making efficiency in EU and create a European super-state hallmark of the EC.

In addition, the European Parliament (EP) would increase its power in legislature, budget appropriation or discharge, as well as political supervision.

As a matter of course, there will be "no plain sailing" in the course of implementing the Lisbon Treaty, as it contains after repeated revisions a lot of errors and contradictions, which leave behind quite a few undefined factors for its operation in years ahead.

To review the long-running saga of the constitutional process, it began with the Laeken Declaration of 15th December 2001, and that was a critical juncture then, since EU then needed an in-depth reform and innovation, so as to cope with new challenges it was faced with.

The EU Treaty establishing a Constitution for EU, drafted by the European Parliamental Constitutional Affairs Committee, was signed by the 25 EU member states and three candidate countries on October 29, 2004. When the constitution was put to a public referendum in France and Netherlands in May and June 2005, they vetoed it however, which was followed by a constitutional crisis with a two-year period for introspection.

Nevertheless, the European Constitution was revived and the European integration process restarted in early 2007. The European Council on June 23, 2007 made a commitment to calling an intergovernmental conference and the definition of a roadmap containing a procedure adopted. The Treaty of Lisbon was concluded as the constitution's replacement in Lisbon, Portugal on October 19 by all EU member states and, on December 13 of the same year, 27 EU leaders ultimately signed the Treaty of Lisbon.

Then, 27 EU nations entered into a two-year period for ratification. Ireland effectively vetoes the Treaty of Lisbon in a public referendum on June 13, 2008, and ratified the treaty in a second referendum, which took place on October 2 this year. Afterwards, Czech President Klaus set new condition for ratifying the treaty and, on October 29, all EU leaders agreed to grant the Czech Republic a clarification which satisfies the President Klaus's demand for an exemption from parts of the Lisbon treaty in return for his promise not to raise.

By People's Daily Online and contributed by PD overseas resident reporter Li Yongqun