Memorandum by Margot Wallström, Vice-President
of the European Commission
1. The impact of the Reform Treaty on the
structure of the Treaties and the effect of conferring legal personality
on the Union
The Treaty of Lisbon does not repeal or replace
the texts of the current Treaties. These remain in force. It contains
two substantive articles amending the "Treaty on European
Union" (EU Treaty), which will retain its name, and the "Treaty
establishing the European Community", which will be renamed
the "Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union".
The structure of the EU Treaty is reorganised
into six titles. The structure of the TFEU Treaty will to a large
extent follow the current EC Treaty, incorporating the agreed
amendments.
Finally, the Treaty of Lisbon includes a number
of protocols and declarations of the Intergovernmental Conference.
The replacement of the European Union and the
European Community by a single European Union enjoying legal personality
will clarify the role of the European Union inside the EU and
with partners worldwide, and empower the EU to conclude an international
agreement within its fields of competence. This will allow the
EU to work more effectively, alongside the Member States, who
retain their existing role and prerogatives in international relations
and international organisations.
2. The impact of the Reform Treaty on the
role and functioning of the European Council, including the effects
of the creation of the post of President of the European Council,
the election of that President, and his/her role in the external
representation of the EU
The European Council is defined as an institution
separate from the Council of the Union. Its President will be
appointed by qualified majority for a term of two and a half years,
renewable once.
As a consequence, the President of the European
Council will have no national mandate and will operate on a "full-time"
basis. The Treaty stipulates that the President of the European
Council will ensure the external representation of the Union in
respect of common foreign and security policy.
3. The impact of the Reform Treaty on the
role and functioning of the Council of Ministers, including the
effects of the use of team Presidencies, their relationship with
the President of the European Council, and the new system of qualified
majority voting
There are limited changes concerning the workings
of the Council of Ministers. The current system of six-month Presidencies
remains. With the exception of the Foreign Affairs Council, which
will be chaired by the new High Representative, the six-month
Presidency of the various configurations of the Council will be
held by representatives of the Member States under an equal rotation
system. The existing approach of an 18 month Council programme
drawn up between three Presidencies will be retained.
The Treaty of Lisbon makes significant changes
to the system for calculating the qualified majority within the
Council and to the areas to which it applies.
The weighting system for votes laid down in
the Treaty of Nice will continue to apply until 1 November 2014.[74]
Qualified majority voting will then be based on the principle
of a double majority (a majority of the Member States and of the
population), which will be attained when at least 55% of the Member
States making up at least 65% of the Union's population vote in
favour.[75]
To make it impossible for a very small number of the most populous
Member States to prevent a decision from being adopted, a blocking
minority must comprise at least four Member States; otherwise,
the qualified majority will be deemed to have been reached even
if the population criterion is not met.
However, during a transitional period up to
31 March 2017, a Member State may still request application of
the weighting system laid down in Article 205 of the EC Treaty.
As a result, if new Member States join the Union between now and
2017, the weighting system will have to be adapted.
Finally, this system will be backed up by another
mechanism similar to the "Ioannina compromise", which
will allow a group of countries which cannot form a blocking minority
to ask for further discussion in the Council.
4. The impact of the Reform Treaty on the
role, functioning and membership of the European Parliament, including
the effects of the extension of co-decision
The composition of the European Parliament will
be modified as from 2009, with the number of seats being limited
to 751 (750 plus the President). Each Member State will be represented
in accordance with the principle of digressive proportionality,
with a minimum threshold of six members per Member State and a
maximum threshold of 96.
The powers of the European Parliament will be
strengthened in legislative matters, most obviously through the
extension of the co-decision procedure as the ordinary legislative
procedure, in budgetary matters (approval of the multi-annual
financial framework; co-decision in setting all compulsory and
non-compulsory expenditure), and as regards international agreements.
The European Parliament will have to give its assent to all agreements
relating to matters covered by co-decision or requiring its approval.
In addition, the European Parliament's role in the election of
the Commission President will be extended, including the requirement
to take account of the result of the elections to the European
Parliament.
5. The impact of the Reform Treaty on the
role, functioning and membership of the European Commission, including
the effects of the changes to Commission selection and the accountability
of the Commission to the European Parliament
From 2014 the European Commission will be composed
of a number of Members corresponding to two thirds of the number
of Member States on the basis of a system of equal rotation allowing
each Member State to have a national serving as a Member for two
out of three terms of office.[76]
The number of Commission Members may be amended by the European
Council, acting unanimously. Until 2014 the Commission will be
composed of one Member per Member State. The Commission will have
a right of initiative (except in respect of the common foreign
affairs and security policy) in new areas entering in the Community
framework. The role of the President of the Commission will be
strengthened: for example, the President will have the power to
dismiss a Member of the Commission. The European Parliament will
elect the Commission President on a proposal from the European
Council (agreed under qualified majority voting).
6. The impact of the Reform Treaty on the
role, functioning and jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice,
including the effects of the changes to the status of the Charter
of Fundamental Rights, the UK Protocol on the Charter, and EU
accession to the European Convention on Human Rights
The Court of Justice will see its scope for
action increased as certain areas, including judicial cooperation
in criminal matters and police cooperation, have been brought
within the Community framework.[77]
In addition, the procedure on penalties (Article 228) has been
reinforced.
Through a cross-reference in the Treaty, the
Charter of Fundamental Rights, as adapted by the Intergovernmental
Conference in 2004, is made legally binding. Its provisions will
apply to acts of implementation of Union law, subject to particular
provisions regarding two Member States (the United Kingdom and
Poland). The Union will be able to join the European Convention
on Human Rights, subject to a unanimous agreement of the Council
and ratification by all Member States.
7. The impact of the Reform Treaty on the
role of national parliaments
The Treaty of Lisbon significantly increases
the involvement of national parliaments. A new article on national
parliaments sets out clearly their role, listing six areas of
particular importance. These include the receipt of proposals,
respect for the subsidiarity principle, evaluation mechanisms
in the area of freedom, security and justice, and revision of
the Treaties. Other elements of the Reform Treaty, such as the
transparency of legislative proceedings in the Council, and national
parliaments' scrutiny of "passarelle" clauses,
are also of clear relevance for national parliaments.
Protocols on national parliaments and on the
application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality
set out some details. In particular, a new system is established
to allow closer scrutiny of subsidiarity by national parliaments.
The new system will give national parliaments the opportunity
to issue a reasoned opinion if they consider that a proposal does
not comply with the principle of subsidiarity, within eight weeks
of being sent a legislative proposal. If the number of reasoned
opinions represents at least one third of the votes allocated
to national parliaments,[78]
the author of the proposal (as a rule, the Commission) must review
the text. This review leads to a decision to maintain, amend or
withdraw the draft.
If the reasoned opinions add up to a simple
majority of the votes allocated to national parliaments and the
proposal is maintained, a special procedure will come into play
for proposals under co-decision. The Commission will have to issue
a reasoned opinion to the European Parliament and the Council,
explaining how the principle of subsidiarity is being respected.
The two branches of the legislator may then decide (by 55% of
the members of the Council or by a majority of the European Parliament)
whether or not to continue with the legislative procedure.
8. The impact of the Reform Treaty on future
enlargement of the EU, including the effects of the use of the
concept of integration capacity, and the requirement to inform
national parliaments
Provisions on the accession procedure will now
make specific reference to the values of the Union and the commitment
to promote those values. The European Parliament and national
parliaments will have to be informed of any application for accession.
Article 49 expressly refers to the eligibility criteria which
have been agreed by the European Council (the "Copenhagen
critieria").
9. The impact of the simplified revision procedure
and the other passerelles included in the Reform Treaty
The Treaty of Lisbon does not fundamentally
alter the procedure for the revision of the Treaties. Revision
of the Treaties will continue to require the calling of an intergovernmental
conference, which will reach decisions by common accord (and thus
unanimously), followed by ratification of the agreed amendments
by all Member States. An innovation is the formal provision for
a Convention to prepare proposals to be submitted to the conference.
The European Parliament becomes entitled to submit proposals for
revision of the Treaty (as Member States and the Commission already
are).
The Treaty introduces a simplified revision
mechanism for provisions relating to common policies. This likewise
requires unanimous approval of amendments by the Member States
followed by national ratification; an intergovernmental conference
is however not required.
The Treaty contains a number of passerelle
or "switchover" clauses. These allow the European
Council to decide by unanimous vote that, in future, decisions
in a particular area will be taken by qualified-majority vote
or by the ordinary legislative procedure (co-decision). The Treaty
also gives the opportunity for any national parliament to oppose
the European Council's decision and thereby retain the status
quo.
20 December 2007
74 A majority will be attained if a measure is approved
by a majority of Member States and obtains at least 255 votes
out of a total of 345. In addition, if a Member State so requests,
the measure will have to be approved by Member States representing
at least 62% of the Union's population. Back
75
This double 55/65 threshold will apply when the Council acts on
a proposal from the Commission. A threshold of 72% of the Member
States representing 65% of the population will be required where
the Council is not acting on a proposal from the Commission or
from the High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy. Back
76
A declaration by the Intergovernmental Conference stipulates that,
with its new composition, the Commission will have to take the
necessary internal organisational measures to ensure transparency
of its action and consultation of all Member States, and in particular
those with no national serving as a Member of the Commission. Back
77
There are certain limits, however: the validity and proportionality
of police operations and measures taken by the Member States to
maintain law and order or to safeguard internal security will
remain outside the Court's jurisdiction. Back
78
Each national parliament has two votes, shared out on the basis
of the national parliamentary system. In the case of a bicameral
parliamentary system, each chamber has one vote. Back
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