Treaty of Lisbon
On 13 December 2007 in Lisbon, the heads of state and government of the European Union (EU) Member States signed the Treaty of Lisbon, which amends the Treaty on EU (TEU, Maastricht) and the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC, Rome). The stated aim of the Treaty of Lisbon is "to complete the process started by the Treaty of Amsterdam and by the Treaty of Nice with a view to enhancing the efficiency and democratic legitimacy of the Union and to improving the coherence of its action". The amended Treaty provides a number of elements which, compared to the present EU founding treaties, streamline the working of the EU. The Treaty of Lisbon enhance activities and decision making processes of the EU institutions and improves working of the EU policies, thus promoting sustainable development and competitiveness of the EU and re-enforcing its role in the world.
The Treaty of Lisbon which, prior to its signing, was known as the Reform Treaty, was drawn up after citizens of the Republic of France and the Kingdom of the Netherlands rejected the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe in referendums hold in 2005. In order to resolve the situation and continue ongoing reforms, on 21 – 22 June 2007 the heads of state and government of the EU Member States at the European Council approved the mandate for an intergovernmental conference, prepared by the German EU Presidency, requiring it to establish appropriate amendments in the EU founding treaties.
The Treaty of Lisbon will come into force when all of 27 EU Member States will ratify it. Each Member State has to choose its own method of ratification in accordance with its constitutional provisions. In Latvia the Treaty of Lisbon was ratified by the parliament (Saeima) on 8 May 2008, with 70 deputies voting "for", three "against" and one abstaining. Thus Latvia became the 12th Member State to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon. For information on ratification of the Treaty by other EU Member States please visit the official site of the Treaty of Lisbon.
Ireland was the only EU Member State which decided to hold a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon. The referendum in Ireland took place on 12 June 2008. 46.6% of the Irish citizens who attended referendum voted "for" and 53.4% "against", thus rejecting ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon. It was anticipated that the Treaty of Lisbon will come into force on 1 January 2009, however, in view of the outcome of the Irish referendum, the coming into force of the Treaty may be delayed.
Main benefits of the Treaty of Lisbon
The role of national parliaments is increased – for the first time in the history of the EU, parliaments of the EU Member States will be directly involved in the EU decision making process at the very beginning of the process. National parliaments, the Saeima among them, will be able to monitor whether the EU is acting as effectively as possible and closely to the people, and whether better results are achieved at the EU level than at the national or local levels (the subsidiarity principle). When necessary, the Treaty of Lisbon provides two thirds of national parliaments the right to reject a draft proposal prepared by the European Commission.
Fosters citizen participation in the Union's democratic life – for the first time in the history of the EU, direct involvement of the citizens in the EU decision making process is envisaged. The right of "citizens' initiative" established by the Treaty of Lisbon will permit one million of EU citizens (out of almost 500 million EU citizens), which represent a significant part of EU Member States, to demand the European Commission to prepare new proposals on any issue within the competence of the EU. The civil society of Latvia will also be able to start such an initiative.
The strengthening of the role played by the European Parliament – the European Parliament, directly-elected by the EU citizens, will have expanded responsibilities. The next elections for the European Parliament will take place in June 2009. The Treaty of Lisbon provides 9 seats for Latvia in the European Parliament.
Progressing towards more effective decision making – the Council of the Ministers of the EU will be able to make more use of the qualified majority voting, making use of it in more than 40 new areas, which will make its work more efficient. It is planned that commencing in 2014 a new decision making procedure will be introduced in the Council – passing decisions by the double majority vote, each member country having one vote. A decision will be passed if at least 55% of Member States representing at least 65% of EU citizens will vote for it. The new voting system will come into force fully by 2017.
Improves the efficiency of Union's institutional system – a new permanent chairperson of the EU Council will be elected for a term of 2.5 years, which will introduce a longer cycle of political guidance and more visibility to the EU in the world. In order to improve the functioning of the European Commission, as of 2014 the number of Commissioners of the European Commission will be reduced, based on the equal rotation principle. This means that for 2 out of 3 Colleges of the European Commission Latvia should have its own Commissioner.
Grants legal force to the Charter of Fundamental Rights – the Treaty of Lisbon guarantees the freedoms and principles set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and gives its provisions a binding legal force.
Provides the EU with a single voice in the world and fosters solidarity among the EU Member States – The EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, who will also be the Vice-President of the European Commission, will work on increased influence, co-ordination and visibility of the EU in the world. The formation of the European External Action Service, which will include all EU delegations in the world, will also ensure the representation of Latvia in regions where Latvia is not represented at the moment. The Treaty of Lisbon introduces the solidarity clause, which means that the EU and its Member States act jointly and are united if one of the Member States is attacked by terrorists or in the case of natural or man-made crisis.
For the first time ever a withdrawal clause from the EU is included.
Additional information on the Treaty of Lisbon may be found in the EU portal.
