European Commission: Your guide to the Lisbon Treaty

Besides heavy reports and proposals, the EU Commission regularly publishes lighter booklets for the general public, often from a citizen’s perspective.

A recent addition is Your guide to the Lisbon Treaty, available in the official EU languages in a both a text only version and an illustrated version.



(The English and the Gaelic version are on the same web page, but otherwise choose your language in the upper right hand corner.)


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Introduction

The introduction presents the general aims of the Lisbon Treaty and the publication:


“After decades of war that cost millions of lives, the foundation of the EU marked the beginning of a new era where European countries solve their problems by talking, not fighting.

Today, members of the EU enjoy a wealth of benefits: a free market with a currency that makes trade easier and more efficient, the creation of millions of jobs, improved workers’ rights, free movement of people and a cleaner environment.

The existing rules, however, were designed for a much smaller EU, and an EU that did not have to face global challenges such as climate change, a global recession, or international cross-border crime. The EU has the potential, and the commitment, to tackle these problems, but can only do so by improving the way it works.

This is the purpose of the Lisbon Treaty. It makes the EU more democratic, efficient and transparent. It gives citizens and parliaments a bigger input into what goes on at a European level, and gives Europe a clearer, stronger voice in the world, all the while protecting national interests.

The Lisbon Treaty provides for a new Citizens’ Initiative, whereby you can, with one million signatures, petition the European Commission to advance new policy proposals.

National parliaments in each Member State will be given a greater role in examining EU laws before they are passed to ensure that the EU does not overstep its mark on matters that should be dealt with at a national or local level.

The powers of the European Parliament will be increased, giving the MEPs you directly elect more of a say on a wider range of issues.

Contrary to the existing (Nice) Treaty, the Commission will continue to be formed of one Commissioner from every Member State.

This leaflet explains what the Lisbon Treaty means to you as a citizen."


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Contents


The contents of the brochure (20 pages) are the following:


INTRODUCTION


A UNION FOR THE 21ST CENTURY


KEY PROVISIONS OF THE LISBON TREATY


FIND OUT MORE

The road to Lisbon

More about the institutional changes

Some technical terms


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Informed citizens see the merits of an improved European Union, and they tend to see the needs for further reform.



Ralf Grahn

Introduction to the EU Council

In a European Union based on the member states, the intergovernmental European Council and the Council, part legislative and part executive, are the most important tandem in the “institutional triangle”, which includes the European Commission and the European Parliament.

For those, who want to know more than most general EU textbooks offer, the Council has published: An introduction to the Council of the European Union (2008; 68 pages).

The Introduction, which rejects the description of the Council as intergovernmental and sees it as a supranational institution, is available on the Council’s web pages and at the EU Bookshop.




The Contents of the Introduction offer a picture of what the publication is about:

Chapter 1 - The Council and the people working in it
A profile

Chapter 2 - The special role of the European Council
The EU’s helmsman

Chapter 3 - The Council at work
The Council as a legislative body

Chapter 4 - In partnership
The Council’s relations with the other European Union institutions and bodies

Chapter 5 - Promoting prosperity and preserving peace
The Council’s role in external relations

Chapter 6 - Supporting growth and employment
The Council and economic policy

Chapter 7 - Establishing an area of freedom, security and justice
The Council’s role in justice and home affairs

Chapter 8 - Looking to the future


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As a public relations brochure, the Introduction to the Council of the European Union is somewhat Panglossian in style, but it presents the facts correctly and the language is accessible for general readers.


Ralf Grahn

Information about EU Council: Swedish Presidency and first aid

For the intrepid ones, who want to follow the work of the Council of the European Union, the Swedish Council Presidency offers the best website to date, and you can sign up for a continuing stream of news. The web pages are available in English, French and Swedish.



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Council website

Presidencies come and go, but the Council remains. Long before the number of official languages rose to 23, the Council and the Court of Justice turned to an additional one to name their websites: Latin.

Thus, the web portal of the Council is Consilium and the homepage of the Court is called Curia.




The Council’s homepage is loaded with the latest news, such as conclusions by the Council configurations, but it also offers a number of thematic links or shortcuts to various policy areas.

Even if the Council produces about a hundred documents a day, one gets the feeling that final decisions are the strong point – after the fact.

The processes and real debates within the Council remain opaque, so it remains like a darkroom of old times. You find the Commission proposal, if there is one, and you see the final result, but despite deliberation in public the forces at work are hidden from public view, or they require dedicated research.


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First aid

Officially, the Council of the European Union is dedicated to openness.

As a first aid to students and others, who want to find documents or other information, the Council has published a leaflet with systematic information:

How to get information on the activities of the Council of the European Union (latest update January 2009).




The useful brochure offers brief information and links to the Council’s website, public deliberations and debates, news, access to public documents, enquiries about the Council and visits to the Council.



Ralf Grahn