The 27 European leaders reached a deal on the new "Reform Treaty" during a two-day summit at Lisbon on October 18th and 19th 2007, ending more than two years of political crisis after the French and Dutch referenda. This agreement comes after a long and complex process of elaboration and negotiations, which is not safe from any situation reversal. During a European Union (EU) summit in last June 21st to 23rd, a new Treaty project was drafted to accommodate demands made by nations. During this meeting, the 27 EU leaders agreed to the broad guidelines for the new document, aimed at streamlining decision-making in the enlarging bloc. The document performed is difficult to read and runs to more than 250 pages with appended declarations and protocols. It contains many positive elements of the failed European Constitution, which was rejected by French and Dutch voters in referenda two years ago.
[...] According to the Nice Treaty of 2000, a proposition has to combine 255 positive votes in the Council over 345 and 62% of the population and the majority of the member states must be represented to be approved. It was a complicated and rather inefficient process according to analysts and experts. The new QMV rules brought by the Reform Treaty are that 55% of the members of the Council and 65% of the population have to be represented to accept a proposal. The blocking minority must include at least 4 Council members. (Art. [...]
[...] Moreover, the extension of the QMV to 21 new legal areas will permit the EU to gain new competences. Nevertheless, the implications of the new rules are already a matter of dispute among internal and external analysts. Some of them argue that very little changes will be observed in the Council whereas others think that governments will have to “give earlier in the negotiation process in order to be part of the majority and to be able to influence the final decision outcome. [...]
[...] Indeed, it is uneasy for a country to predict its exact relative or absolute weight in the negotiation process, let alone the weight of the others. Another interesting fact is the dominance of the population criterion. These new rules will be able to increase the efficiency of the EU by permitting an augmentation of the probability of governments' approval of an act rather than their blockage. They will decrease the blocking power. In addition, they will enhance the legal certainty and the democratic control. [...]
[...] After further discussions, Roma obtained an extra seat. It is now in equal footing with the UK, but has still one seat less than France has. To conclude, the consequences of the Reform Treaty can be important. The innovations taken up by this text were meant to make enhanced cooperation more useful and more attractive. It can increase the autonomy and the power of decision of potential grouping of Member states but it may raise unexpected new legal questions. Therefore, this text may permit to enhance cooperation between Member states but many issues can inhibit its implementation. [...]
[...] After that, the Treaty is expected to enter into force on January 1st 2009, provided that all the member states have ratified it. This step remains the more perilous for this process. It will essentially depend on whether a member state, other than Ireland, will call for a referendum. In that case, it will be difficult for all the countries that possess a divided public opinion about this topic to avoid following this scheme. The deadline for member states' ratification is fixed to June 2009, ahead of European parliamentary elections. [...]
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