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

Vacation or business: Travelling in Europe 2009

Whether you are heading for your vacation destination or travelling for business purposes, the 11 page brochure Travelling in Europe 2009 is worth a glance. Available at the EU Bookshop.



Travelling in Europe 2009 offers brief information about needed documents (Schengen), money (the euro), approximate exchange rates, cash withdrawals, bank transfers, shopping (tobacco and alcohol), consumer protection, driving licence, car insurance, driving safety, air passenger rights, airport security, rail transport, access to healthcare and the European health insurance card, travel insurance, medicines, immunisation, bathing water, languages, country codes, mobile phones (roaming), postage stamps, electricity, tourist information, weather, time zones (summer time), pets, emergency number 112, national tourist information sites, EU information and basic statistics.

The brochure serves both EU citizens and visitors from third countries.

Indirectly, Travelling in Europe 2009 gives a number of answers to the question: What has Europe ever done for me?


Ralf Grahn

European Union Legal Materials (Columbia Law School)

Students of politics, law or economics need guidance on how to access material about the European Union as soon as they have to write or present something on their own.

One of the guides on offer is the Columbia Law School’s Arthur W. Diamond Law Library Research Guide: European Union Legal Materials, written by Duncan Alford and updated by Karin Johnsrud (latest update 30 January 2008).



Here are a few comments based on a cursory reading of the Research Guide on the resources:

• Under Brief overview, the words and the acronym for the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) are presented in inverted order.
• The pillar structure has evolved, with justice and home affairs (JHA) migrating to the first (Community pillar), with the exception of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, which remain within the intergovernmental third pillar.
• Enlargement: There may be better definitions than mine, but since the big EU enlargement 2004 and 2007 I have tended to use the term Central Europe for the new member states (sometimes including historic ‘Mitteleuropa’ Germany and Austria), while leaving Eastern Europe for the countries between the EU and Russia. – But I am glad for comments and reasons.
• The enlargement process needs an update. Fresh information is available on the Commission’s website.
• Euro currency: There are now 16 Eurozone countries, with Slovakia the latest entrant. Sweden has no opt-out, but is de facto outside the Eurozone. I would recommend the web pages of the European Central Bank (ECB) for information to the general public (brochures etc.) and for serious information about the euro area.
• Constitution: The guide is in need of an update for the time since the ratification processes of the Constitutional Treaty petered out. This includes the 2007 intergovernmental conference, the December 2007 Treaty of Lisbon, the consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty (May 2008) and the state of the ratification processes.
• European Council and Council: Although the European Council (heads of state and government) would formally become an EU institution through the Treaty of Lisbon, it would be natural to admit its leadership role and treat it in tandem with the Council of the European Union.
• European Parliament: The EP has 736 directly elected members under the modified Treaty of Nice, still in force. The latest elections were held on 4 to 7 June 2009. The EP has powers to amend (not only approve; co-decision) legislative proposals, and if the Treaty of Lisbon enters into force, these powers would increase.
• European Council: See above. Heads of state (in practice Presidents, since Kings or Queens are nominal heads of state) or government (Prime Ministers) currently meet four times each year, but extraordinary meetings can be convened.
• European Court of Justice: The Civil Service Tribunal could be mentioned for staff cases.
• Committee of the Regions, Economic and Social Committee: The current membership is 344.
• Treaties: The most convenient link would be to the Treaties web page of Eur-Lex, with the consolidated version (2006) of the current treaties, including an Annex with the modifications through the 2007 accession of Bulgaria and Romania; the consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon (May 2008) as well as a selection of earlier treaties and accession treaties. – Generally, the improved Eur-Lex portal could be underlined as the primary source for EU law.
• Pre-Lex and the legislative Observatory could have been highlighted more as primary tools for following legislative procedures.
• The Eur-Lex Preparatory acts and the new Directory of Community legislation in preparation are worth mentioning.
• MEPs: The number of MEPs is 736, but grows if the Lisbon Treaty enters into force.
• Languages: Irish (Gaelic) has been added.

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Conclusions

I scanned the contents and tested some of the links on offer, without rigorous checking.

The Columbia Research Guide: European Union Legal Materials is still a useful tool for the budding researcher, but an update of the contents and the links would be in order.

Personally, I would structure the materials around the general Europa portal and the legal Eur-Lex portal (starting from the index page). [I did not look into the print resources, the library’s collections or the commercial databases.]


Ralf Grahn