Lisbon Treaty implementation ─ first day

On the first day of the EU Lisbon Treaty in force, some formal implementing decisions have been taken. The Council of the European Union informs us (1 December 2009, document 16919/09:


Implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon

Today, day of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, several decisions were taken in view of the implementation of the Treaty.

Following the political agreement reached by the Heads of State or Government on 19 November the European Council decided:

– To elect Mr Herman Van Rompuy as President of the European Council for the period from 1 December 2009 until 31 May 2012, and

– To appoint, with the agreement of the President of the Commission, Ms Catherine Ashton as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy for the period from 1 December 2009 until the end of the current term of office of the Commission.

The European Council also adopted its rules of procedure and a decision on the exercise of the Presidency of the Council.

Furthermore, the Council decided today to appoint Mr Pierre de Boissieu as Secretary-General of the Council for the period from 1 December 2009 until the day after the European Council meeting of June 2011.

It also adopted its Rules of Procedure, as well as a decision laying down measures for the implementation of the European Council decision on the exercise of the Presidency of the Council.

These final decisions have not been published yet:

• The rules of procedure of the European Council
• The decision of the European Council on the Presidency of the Council
• The rules of procedure of the Council
• The decision of the Council laying down measures for the implementation of the European Council decision on the exercise of the Presidency of the Council

Information note




The Council has published a short information note in French, prepared by the general secretariat, on the Lisbon Treaty.


Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)



The general secretariat has prepared a background note, which outlines the changes brought by the Lisbon Treaty in justice and home affairs, known as the area of freedom, security and justice (FSJ).

The four page document outlines the main changes:

1. changes in the legal framework and the legislative procedures applicable in several areas,

2. the possibility to create a European Public Prosecutor's Office,

3. a new Council standing committee on internal security (COSI), and

4. transitional provisions on the 3rd pillar 'acquis'.



Home Affairs



The conclusions of the first day of the JHA Council meeting, home affairs on 30 November 2009, have been published on the Council website (document 16883/09).

Without being Lisbon Treaty implementing decisions in a narrow sense, these decisions form a hefty package on policies under the reform treaty with regard to home affairs (member states’ ministries of the interior).




The Swedish presidency of the EU Council offers a lot of links to materials on different issues discussed and debated by the two day meeting of the JHA Council.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Do you find EUSSR myths fascinating? Are we EU citizens worth a better European Union? Educate yourself! There are already 487 Euroblogs aggregated on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. You can access all the posts on the Posts page or concentrate on the editors’ choice of articles on the Home page. On most of the blogs you can comment and discuss our common European future.