EU Treaty of Lisbon: neighbourhood policy

I continue my presentation of the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon. But first, let us take a look at the existing Treaty Establishing the European Community.

The TEC (latest consolidation OJ 29.12.2006, C 321 E) Article 310 states: The Community may conclude with one or more states or international organisations agreements establishing an association involving reciprocal rights and obligations, common action and special procedure.

This text was, more or less, taken over, via the Constitutional Treaty, to become Article 7a(2) of the Treaty of Lisbon.

TEU Article 7a(1) is new, and it owes its existence to the Convention (Article I-56(1) in the draft Constitutional Treaty). The new paragraph underlines the importance of the relations with the Union’s Eastern and Southern neighbours.

The wording of the whole Article 7a in the Lisbon Treaty is the same as in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (OJ 16.12.2004, C 310) Article I-57.

The intergovernmental conference (IGC 2007) took over the contents of Declaration 11 annexed to the Constitutional Treaty. In the Treaty of Lisbon the now Declaration (number 3) on Article 7a of the Treaty on European Union states: The Union will take into account the particular situation of small-sized countries which maintain specific relations of proximity with it.

In practice, the European Neighbourhood Policy already exists, with specific partnership plans for each country.



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The EU Treaty of Lisbon (OJ 17.12.2007, C 306/1) inserts a new

Article 7a

1. The Union shall develop a special relationship with neighbouring countries, aiming to establish an area of prosperity and good neighbourliness, founded on the values of the Union and characterised by close and peaceful relations based on cooperation.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, the Union may conclude specific agreements with the countries concerned. These agreements may contain reciprocal rights and obligations as well as the possibility of undertaking activities jointly. Their implementation shall be the subject of periodic consultation.

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Our next stop is going to be TEU Title II and its Provisions on democratic principles.


Ralf Grahn