Treaty+of+Lisbon




 * The Treaty of Lisbon (2007) **

 The Treaty of Lisbon (also called Reform Treaty or Constitutional Treaty) has been signed on December 13th, 2007. It has to be ratified by all 27 Member States before it can enter into force, which is hoped to be before the next European Parliament elections in June 2009. Its main objectives are to make the EU more democratic, meeting the European citizens’ expectations for high standards of accountability, openness, transparency and participation; and to make the EU more efficient and able to tackle global challenges such as climate change, security and sustainable development.

The agreement on the Treaty of Lisbon followed the discussion about a constitution. A "Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe" was adopted by the Heads of State and Government at the Brussels European Council on June 17th and 18th, 2004 and signed in Rome on October 29th, 2004, but it was never ratified. The treaty signed in Lisbon on December 13th, 2007 sets out to do just that. This new treaty is the result of negotiations between EU member countries in an intergovernmental conference, in which the Commission and Parliament were also involved. The treaty will not apply until and unless it is ratified by each of the EU’s 27 members. It is up to each country to choose the procedure for ratification, in line with its own national constitution.

The target date for ratification set by member governments is January 1st, 2009 – some months before the elections to the European Parliament.

But the treaty is not currently ratified in all EU members’ countries : in February 2009, 23 out of the 27 ratified it. Actually, France, Netherlands, and Ireland organized a referendum (in 2005 for France and Netherlands and 2008 for Ireland) and the populations of these countries voted “No” by a majority. Nevertheless, the Treaty has been accepted and granted by France and Netherlands by the Parliaments and respectively received the French President assent and the Dutch Royal assent.

Then the Czech Republic has to pronounce itself on this question: the Czech Chamber of Deputies accepted it, but the Senate has to vote on May 2009, and the Czech President is opposed to the ratification of the Treaty in his country.

Finally the Republic of Ireland will organize a second referendum in October 2009 to obtain the assent of the population, as the Irish Constitution requires it in case of ratification of European Treaties in Republic of Ireland.

Unless these two countries have not ratified it, the Treaty cannot be ratified completely, and the process would be stopped.

 //Source: Our contribution//

 //Source : Wikipedia, retrived on March 15th, 2009 ; the dates are corresponding to the entering into force of the Treaties

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**Sources** - Wikipedia, retrived on March 15th, 2009 ; the dates are corresponding to the enterring into force of the Treaties

// Back to European treaties // <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 128);">**Related Arguments**

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 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 128); text-align: left; display: block;">Council of Europe (1949)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 128); text-align: left; display: block;"> European Coal & Steel Community (1951)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 128); text-align: left; display: block;"> Treaty of Rome (1957)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 128); text-align: left; display: block;"> Merger Treaty (1965)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 128); text-align: left; display: block;"> Single European Act (1987)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 128); text-align: left; display: block;"> Treaty on European Union (1992)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 128); text-align: left; display: block;"> Treaty of Amsterdam (1997)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 128); text-align: left; display: block;"> Treaty of Nice (2001)

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 128); text-align: center; display: block;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 91%; color: rgb(0, 0, 128); text-align: center; display: block;"> //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 128);"> TF // <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 128);">