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The New Treaty Was Signed, What Is Next?

The new treaty, called Reform Treaty, was signed by the Heads of State or Governments of the 27 member states in Lisbon on 13 December 2007.As it is known before The Reform Treaty, The EU Constitution had been prepared within 2.5 years by the Convention of the Future of Europe established by the European Council. After having prepared the draft Treaty by this Convention, it was signed by the member states on 29 October 2004.

However in the ratification process, the treaty was rejected by France and Netherlands in referenda. Therefore the new treaty could not come into force. After this unsuccessful attempt, in Brussels Summit held on 21-22 June 2007 it was decided that new Intergovernmental would be held on 23 July 2007, even though the EU constitution had been ratified by the 18 member states of the EU. The Conference held as it was planned and a new draft treaty called Reform Treaty prepared by Portuguese EU Presidency had been negotiated until 3 October 2007.Consequently after having reached compromise between members, the Reform Treaty was signed.
Having looked at the main differences between the Reform Treaty and the former one, if the constitution had come into force, it would have replaced the whole treaties signed by member states. Whereas the new treaty amends the Treaty on the European Union (Maastricht) and the Treaty Establishing the European Community (Rome). It also drops all reference to the symbols of the EU - the flag, the anthem and the motto - though these will continue to exist.
There are several amendments will come in to force with the new treaty. For instance the period of presidency will be extended to two-and-a-half years, replacing the current system where countries take turns at being president for six months. Secondly although the positions such as Foreign Affairs Supreme and External Affairs Commissioner existing provisions will remain the Reform Treaty, they will use more clout and represent the EU in the world stage. Thirdly there will smaller European Commission, with fewer commissioners than there are member states, from 2014.Fortly redistribution of voting weights between the member states, will be phased in between 2014 and 2017.The European Parliament, The European Commission and The European Court of Justice which represent the supranational character of the European Union will be empowered. And lastly some national vetoes areas will be removed. Furthermore with regards to enlargement Reform Treaty cites criteria decided by Heads of States or Governments.
To sum up with all these features the Reform Treaty will aim to have modern institutions and to optimise working methods in order to tackle both efficiently and effectively today's challenges in today's world. However because the ratification process hasn’t finished yet, this treaty might share the same destiny as its successor.


Ahmet Conker