Treaty of Lisbon Preamble

The Conference of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States has published the text of the so called Reform Treaty, dated 3 December 2007. The subject of the CIG 14/07 text is the Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community.

The Preamble is a good point to start thinking about the European values, said to have become universal, and about the process of European integration, marked by different stages of development and steps to be taken.

This Preamble is part of the final text of the intergovernmental conference, intended for signing in Lisbon on 13 December 2007.


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His Majesty the King of the Belgians et al.

DESIRING to complete the process started by the Treaty of Amsterdam and by the Treaty of Nice with a view to enhancing the efficiency and democratic legitimacy of the Union and to improving the coherence of its action,

HAVE RESOLVED to amend the Treaty on European Union, the Treaty establishing the European Community and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community,

and to this end have designated as their Plenipotentiaries:

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The Treaty on European Union shall be amended in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

Treaty of Lisbon consolidated version of the Preamble:

RESOLVED to mark a new stage in the process of European integration undertaken with the establishment of the European Communities,

DRAWING INSPIRATION from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe, from which have developed the universal values of the inviolable and inalienable rights of the human person, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law,

RECALLING the historic importance of the ending of the division of the European continent and the need to create firm bases for the construction of the future Europe,

CONFIRMING their attachment to the principles of liberty, democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and of the rule of law,

CONFIRMING their attachment to fundamental social rights as defined in the European Social Charter signed in Turin on 18 October 1961 and in the 1989 Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers,

DESIRING to deepen the solidarity between their peoples while respecting their history, their culture and their traditions,

DESIRING to enhance further the democratic and efficient functioning of the institutions so as to enable them better to carry out, within a single institutional framework, the tasks entrusted to them,

RESOLVED to achieve the strengthening and the convergence of their economies and to establish an economic and monetary union including, in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty and of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, a single and stable currency,

DETERMINED to promote economic and social progress for their peoples, taking into account the principle of sustainable development and within the context of the accomplishment of the internal market and of reinforced cohesion and environmental protection, and to implement policies ensuring that advances in economic integration are accompanied by parallel progress in other fields,

RESOLVED to establish a citizenship common to nationals of their countries,

RESOLVED to implement a common foreign and security policy including the progressive framing of a common defence policy, which might lead to a common defence in accordance with the provisions of Article 17, thereby reinforcing the European identity and its independence in order to promote peace, security and progress in Europe and in the world,

RESOLVED to facilitate the free movement of persons, while ensuring the safety and security of their peoples, by establishing an area of freedom, security and justice, in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty and of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

RESOLVED to continue the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are taken as closely as possible to the citizen in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity,

IN VIEW of further steps to be taken in order to advance European integration,

HAVE DECIDED to establish a European Union and to this end have designated as their Plenipotentiaries:

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The second recital is new, taken from the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, signed in Rome on 29 October 2004 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 16 December 2004 (C series, No 310).

In the now eighth and twelfth recitals the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union has been added.


Ralf Grahn


P.S. There are consolidated versions of the Treaty of Lisbon, in English by the Institute of European Affairs (IIEA), in Ireland, and by professor Steve Peers (Statewatch), as well as in French (Assemblée nationale) and in Spanish (Real Instituto Elcano). I am grateful for information on existing or forthcoming consolidations in different languages.