The European Central Bank has published its formal decisions: Eurozone crisis: ECB decisions (21 May 2010) and earlier blog posts with references to ECB decisions published in the OJEU. (Operations are important, but a separate matter.)
The EU measure published is Council Regulation (EU) No 407/2010 of 11 May 2010 establishing a European financial stabilisation mechanism, in the OJEU 12.5.2010 L 118/1: Background: European financial stabilisation mechanism (13 May 2010) and discussion in some later posts.
The preparatory act directly linked to the eurozone crisis was the recommendation for a decision on Greek corrective measures (available 21 languages, but not in English; here a link to the French version):
Recommandation en vue d'une DÉCISION DU CONSEIL adressée à la Grèce en vue de renforcer et d'approfondir la surveillance budgétaire et mettant la Grèce en demeure de prendre des mesures pour procéder à la réduction du déficit jugée nécessaire pour remédier à la situation de déficit excessif ; Bruxelles, le 4.5.20010 SEC(2010) 560 final.
Otherwise the decisions or proposals concerning eurozone rescue measures have not been published centrally and officially, in the Official Journal of the European Union or as preparatory acts (COM or SEC documents) on Eur-Lex: Eurozone crisis: Roundup of official information (OJEU) (19 May 2010) and Eurozone crisis: Roundup of preparatory documents on Eur-Lex (19 May 2010).
This is still the situation as per today, 23 May 2010.
Road map
The dearth of central and official publishing does not mean that the Council (ECOFIN), the heads of state or government of the euro area countries, the Euro Group and the European Commission have refrained from communicating altogether. We just have to look for the bits and pieces elsewhere.
For the convenience of readers and our own enlightenment, we aim to track the communications from the institutions and informal groups on the eurozone crisis and economic governance in a few blog posts.
Ralf Grahn
Showing posts with label publishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label publishing. Show all posts
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Europawahlen ─ European elections in German
On the European election pages of CAP, Centrum für angewandte Politiksforschung (Center for Applied Policy Research) Themendossier zur Europawahl 2009, you can find a lot of information about the upcoming European Parliament elections, some available in English.
Some documents link to outside sources, such as the bpb (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung) and European Alternatives, which we mentioned in the previous post.
The BPB has published a thematic issue on the European elections in their publication Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte (APuZ 23-24/2009; 2 June 2009; 48 pages).
The publication Europawahlen contains the following essays on the European Parliament elections:
AndreasM. Wüst •Markus Tausendpfund
30 Jahre Europawahlen
Ulrike Hegewald • Lars Schmitt
Die Deutschen vor der Europawahl 2009
Max Haller
Die europäische Integration als Elitenprojekt
Erich Röper
Sinnhaftigkeit von Plebisziten in europäischen Fragen
Sonia Lucarelli • Lorenzo Fioramonti
Das globale Image der Europäischen Union
Barbara Pfetsch • Annett Heft
Europäische Öffentlichkeit
JürgenMittag
Europäische Parteien imWandel
***
The publication is one of many quality examples of the civic education the BPB offers Germans and foreigners.
Ralf Grahn
Some documents link to outside sources, such as the bpb (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung) and European Alternatives, which we mentioned in the previous post.
The BPB has published a thematic issue on the European elections in their publication Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte (APuZ 23-24/2009; 2 June 2009; 48 pages).
The publication Europawahlen contains the following essays on the European Parliament elections:
AndreasM. Wüst •Markus Tausendpfund
30 Jahre Europawahlen
Ulrike Hegewald • Lars Schmitt
Die Deutschen vor der Europawahl 2009
Max Haller
Die europäische Integration als Elitenprojekt
Erich Röper
Sinnhaftigkeit von Plebisziten in europäischen Fragen
Sonia Lucarelli • Lorenzo Fioramonti
Das globale Image der Europäischen Union
Barbara Pfetsch • Annett Heft
Europäische Öffentlichkeit
JürgenMittag
Europäische Parteien imWandel
***
The publication is one of many quality examples of the civic education the BPB offers Germans and foreigners.
Ralf Grahn
Thursday, 30 April 2009
European Economic and Social Committee Opinions
The (European) Economic and Social Committee consists of representatives of organised civil society, and it must be consulted by the Council or by the Commission where the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) so provides.
The EESC (or ESC) may be consulted in other cases, as well as by the European Parliament. The EESC may issue opinions on its own initiative.
The relevant treaty provisions on this advisory body are Articles 257 to 267 TEC (in the Treaty of Lisbon Articles 300 to 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; TFEU).
Opinions
As with the Committee of the Regions, the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee is a mandatory requirement for Community legislation, when provided by the TEC, and the opinion is mentioned in the Preamble of the act.
For a student or researcher digging deeper into a Community act, the opinion is an essential reference.
The Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) is the prime source for official materials on the European Union.
Far from the hectic pace of public information on the web and daily news reporting, the opinions of the European Economic and Social Committee are published in the OJEU with some delay.
The latest example is today’s OJEU 30.4.2009 C 100, where you find the opinions of the European Economic and Social Committee of the 448th plenary session held on 21 to 23 October 2008.
In other words, official publication takes place about six months after the session. Luckily, you can search the opinions by later sessions on the EESC web page Opinion Search.
Ralf Grahn
The EESC (or ESC) may be consulted in other cases, as well as by the European Parliament. The EESC may issue opinions on its own initiative.
The relevant treaty provisions on this advisory body are Articles 257 to 267 TEC (in the Treaty of Lisbon Articles 300 to 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; TFEU).
Opinions
As with the Committee of the Regions, the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee is a mandatory requirement for Community legislation, when provided by the TEC, and the opinion is mentioned in the Preamble of the act.
For a student or researcher digging deeper into a Community act, the opinion is an essential reference.
The Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) is the prime source for official materials on the European Union.
Far from the hectic pace of public information on the web and daily news reporting, the opinions of the European Economic and Social Committee are published in the OJEU with some delay.
The latest example is today’s OJEU 30.4.2009 C 100, where you find the opinions of the European Economic and Social Committee of the 448th plenary session held on 21 to 23 October 2008.
In other words, official publication takes place about six months after the session. Luckily, you can search the opinions by later sessions on the EESC web page Opinion Search.
Ralf Grahn
Friday, 27 March 2009
EU Guidelines: Human Rights & Humanitarian Law
The European Union publishes a lot of useful information for students of politics, law and economics, as well as other interested EU citizens.
Many of the publications are available at the EU Bookshop in printed or digital form (pdf):
http://bookshop.europa.eu
I would like to draw attention to a recent publication issued by the Council of the European Union (General Secretariat of the Council) ‘EU Guidelines Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law’ (March 2009; 89 pages).
The publication is downloadable for free in English and French (Lignes directrices Droits de l’homme et Droit International Humanitaire).
The Guidelines serve not only international EU missions, but they contain a wealth of information useful for students, teachers, researchers and others interested in the human rights and humanitarian law.
Here is a look at the contents:
1. Death Penalty (1998) (updated on 2008)
2. Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (2001) (updated on 2008)
3. Human Rights dialogues with third countries (2001) (updated on 2009)
4. Children and armed conflict (2003) (updated on 2008)
5. Human Rights Defenders (2004) (updated on 2008)
6. Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child (2007)
7. Violence against women and girls and combating all forms of discrimination against them (2008)
8. Promoting Compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL) (2005)
***
Death penalty
Because misleading information about the European Union is continuously spread on the web, I recommend that everyone unsure about the EU’s position reads the Guideline on the death penalty.
The conspiracy theorists repeating the ‘footnote within a footnote’ distortions are, I presume, beyond redemption.
Ralf Grahn
Many of the publications are available at the EU Bookshop in printed or digital form (pdf):
http://bookshop.europa.eu
I would like to draw attention to a recent publication issued by the Council of the European Union (General Secretariat of the Council) ‘EU Guidelines Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law’ (March 2009; 89 pages).
The publication is downloadable for free in English and French (Lignes directrices Droits de l’homme et Droit International Humanitaire).
The Guidelines serve not only international EU missions, but they contain a wealth of information useful for students, teachers, researchers and others interested in the human rights and humanitarian law.
Here is a look at the contents:
1. Death Penalty (1998) (updated on 2008)
2. Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (2001) (updated on 2008)
3. Human Rights dialogues with third countries (2001) (updated on 2009)
4. Children and armed conflict (2003) (updated on 2008)
5. Human Rights Defenders (2004) (updated on 2008)
6. Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child (2007)
7. Violence against women and girls and combating all forms of discrimination against them (2008)
8. Promoting Compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL) (2005)
***
Death penalty
Because misleading information about the European Union is continuously spread on the web, I recommend that everyone unsure about the EU’s position reads the Guideline on the death penalty.
The conspiracy theorists repeating the ‘footnote within a footnote’ distortions are, I presume, beyond redemption.
Ralf Grahn
Sunday, 15 March 2009
European Parliament: Publishing proceedings (accessibility & accountability)
Public parliamentary proceedings and records are important. At treaty level the European Parliament is given the duty to publish its proceedings officially.
Internet publication and press services cater to immediate and practical needs.
It is a huge task for the European Parliament to serve nearly 500 million EU residents and more than 700 MEPs (more or less equally) in 23 official languages.
The internal bodies of the EP could make their materials more accessible to EU citizens, but in accessibility and accountability the European Parliament beats the Council fair and square.
***
Current treaty
Article 199 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), as published in the consolidated version of the treaties in force in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 29.12.2006 C 321 E/135, concerns two aspects of the European Parliament:
1) adopting the Rules of Procedure, and
2) publishing the proceedings.
Article 199 TEC
The European Parliament shall adopt its Rules of Procedure, acting by a majority of its Members.
The proceedings of the European Parliament shall be published in the manner laid down in its Rules of Procedure.
***
Original Lisbon Treaty
Article 2, point 187 of the original Treaty of Lisbon amended the second paragraph of Article 197 TEC (OJEU 17.12.2007 C 306/103):
187) In the second paragraph of Article 199, the words ‘manner laid down in its Rules of Procedure’ shall be replaced by ‘manner laid down in the Treaties and in its Rules of Procedure’.
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
In the consolidated (readable) Treaty of Lisbon the slightly amended provision became Article 232 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), published OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/152:
Article 232 TFEU
(ex Article 199 TEC)
The European Parliament shall adopt its Rules of Procedure, acting by a majority of its Members.
The proceedings of the European Parliament shall be published in the manner laid down in the Treaties and in its Rules of Procedure.
***
EP Rules of Procedure
Minutes
The main provisions on publishing are found in the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament (16th edition, October 2008).
The minutes of the proceedings, containing the decisions and the names of speakers, are produced and approved quickly.
They are published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). Actual publication of the minutes lags far behind the month mentioned.
The 257 page minutes of the sittings from 15 to 18 December 2008 were published in OJEU 12.3.2009 C 58E, almost three months later. They were available in the official languages, including Maltese and the newest ones Bulgarian and Romanian, but not in Gaelic (Irish).
The lag means that the minutes officially published are of interest to researchers, but for more immediate purposes Internet publishing in general and the Press service of the EP are more suitable:
CHAPTER 7 PUBLIC RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Rule 172 Minutes
1. The minutes of each sitting, containing the decisions of Parliament and the names of speakers, shall be distributed at least half an hour before the beginning of the afternoon period of the next sitting.
[Official explanation: In the context of legislative proceedings, any amendments adopted by Parliament are also deemed to be decisions within the meaning of this paragraph, even if the relevant Commission proposal or the Council's common position is ultimately rejected, pursuant to Rule 52(1) or Rule 61(3) respectively.]
The texts adopted by Parliament shall be distributed separately. Where legislative texts adopted by Parliament contain amendments, they shall be published in a consolidated version.
2. At the beginning of the afternoon period of each sitting the President shall place before Parliament, for its approval, the minutes of the previous sitting.
3. If any objections are raised to the minutes Parliament shall, if necessary, decide whether the changes requested should be considered. No Member may speak on the minutes for more than one minute.
4. The minutes shall be signed by the President and the Secretary-General and preserved in the records of Parliament. They shall be published within one month in the Official Journal of the European Union.
***
Verbatim reports
Written records of the proceedings are produced, but published in a little known annex to the Official Journal at a more leisurely pace:
Rule 173 Verbatim reports
1. A verbatim report of the proceedings of each sitting shall be drawn up in all official languages.
2. Speakers shall be required to return corrections to typescripts of their speeches to the Secretariat within one week.
3. The verbatim report shall be published as an annex to the Official Journal of the European Union.
4. Members may request extracts of the verbatim report to be translated at short notice.
***
Audiovisual record
There is more immediacy to the posting of the proceedings of the plenary on the Internet, officially immediately after the sitting.
In practice it is quicker than that, because you can follow the proceedings live (Séance en direct), either listening to the speakers in the original language or with (almost) simultaneous interpretation depending on if there is a bridging language between the source language and your language (target language):
Rule 173 a Audiovisual record of proceedings
Immediately after the sitting, an audiovisual record of the proceedings, including the soundtrack from all interpretation booths, shall be produced and made available on the Internet.
***
Press service and information on the web
Accountability and accessibility
The Press service of the European Parliament produces material ahead of the sessions and of the sittings on a daily basis. The press releases often contain links to the committee reports or the approved texts (resolutions).
In addition, the web pages of the European Parliament offer general information about the EP and MEPs and links to the political groups, as well as possibilities to find meeting documents, draft reports and reports of committees.
The Legislative Observatory offers search opportunities (not always easy to master) and possibilities to follow individual procedures.
Ahead of the European elections in June 2009, the European Parliament has launched informative election pages.
All in all, the proceedings of the European Parliament leave a fairly clear paper trail (although the reasons given may be opaque) and the materials on the political work are relatively accessible for citizens. Compare with the Council’s web pages, and you see the difference.
Although relatively few EU citizens are interested in the inner workings of the European Parliament, it would enhance visibility and accountability to make the meeting documents of the internal bodies (Bureau, Conference of Presidents) readily available on the Internet.
Ralf Grahn
Internet publication and press services cater to immediate and practical needs.
It is a huge task for the European Parliament to serve nearly 500 million EU residents and more than 700 MEPs (more or less equally) in 23 official languages.
The internal bodies of the EP could make their materials more accessible to EU citizens, but in accessibility and accountability the European Parliament beats the Council fair and square.
***
Current treaty
Article 199 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), as published in the consolidated version of the treaties in force in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 29.12.2006 C 321 E/135, concerns two aspects of the European Parliament:
1) adopting the Rules of Procedure, and
2) publishing the proceedings.
Article 199 TEC
The European Parliament shall adopt its Rules of Procedure, acting by a majority of its Members.
The proceedings of the European Parliament shall be published in the manner laid down in its Rules of Procedure.
***
Original Lisbon Treaty
Article 2, point 187 of the original Treaty of Lisbon amended the second paragraph of Article 197 TEC (OJEU 17.12.2007 C 306/103):
187) In the second paragraph of Article 199, the words ‘manner laid down in its Rules of Procedure’ shall be replaced by ‘manner laid down in the Treaties and in its Rules of Procedure’.
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
In the consolidated (readable) Treaty of Lisbon the slightly amended provision became Article 232 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), published OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/152:
Article 232 TFEU
(ex Article 199 TEC)
The European Parliament shall adopt its Rules of Procedure, acting by a majority of its Members.
The proceedings of the European Parliament shall be published in the manner laid down in the Treaties and in its Rules of Procedure.
***
EP Rules of Procedure
Minutes
The main provisions on publishing are found in the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament (16th edition, October 2008).
The minutes of the proceedings, containing the decisions and the names of speakers, are produced and approved quickly.
They are published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). Actual publication of the minutes lags far behind the month mentioned.
The 257 page minutes of the sittings from 15 to 18 December 2008 were published in OJEU 12.3.2009 C 58E, almost three months later. They were available in the official languages, including Maltese and the newest ones Bulgarian and Romanian, but not in Gaelic (Irish).
The lag means that the minutes officially published are of interest to researchers, but for more immediate purposes Internet publishing in general and the Press service of the EP are more suitable:
CHAPTER 7 PUBLIC RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Rule 172 Minutes
1. The minutes of each sitting, containing the decisions of Parliament and the names of speakers, shall be distributed at least half an hour before the beginning of the afternoon period of the next sitting.
[Official explanation: In the context of legislative proceedings, any amendments adopted by Parliament are also deemed to be decisions within the meaning of this paragraph, even if the relevant Commission proposal or the Council's common position is ultimately rejected, pursuant to Rule 52(1) or Rule 61(3) respectively.]
The texts adopted by Parliament shall be distributed separately. Where legislative texts adopted by Parliament contain amendments, they shall be published in a consolidated version.
2. At the beginning of the afternoon period of each sitting the President shall place before Parliament, for its approval, the minutes of the previous sitting.
3. If any objections are raised to the minutes Parliament shall, if necessary, decide whether the changes requested should be considered. No Member may speak on the minutes for more than one minute.
4. The minutes shall be signed by the President and the Secretary-General and preserved in the records of Parliament. They shall be published within one month in the Official Journal of the European Union.
***
Verbatim reports
Written records of the proceedings are produced, but published in a little known annex to the Official Journal at a more leisurely pace:
Rule 173 Verbatim reports
1. A verbatim report of the proceedings of each sitting shall be drawn up in all official languages.
2. Speakers shall be required to return corrections to typescripts of their speeches to the Secretariat within one week.
3. The verbatim report shall be published as an annex to the Official Journal of the European Union.
4. Members may request extracts of the verbatim report to be translated at short notice.
***
Audiovisual record
There is more immediacy to the posting of the proceedings of the plenary on the Internet, officially immediately after the sitting.
In practice it is quicker than that, because you can follow the proceedings live (Séance en direct), either listening to the speakers in the original language or with (almost) simultaneous interpretation depending on if there is a bridging language between the source language and your language (target language):
Rule 173 a Audiovisual record of proceedings
Immediately after the sitting, an audiovisual record of the proceedings, including the soundtrack from all interpretation booths, shall be produced and made available on the Internet.
***
Press service and information on the web
Accountability and accessibility
The Press service of the European Parliament produces material ahead of the sessions and of the sittings on a daily basis. The press releases often contain links to the committee reports or the approved texts (resolutions).
In addition, the web pages of the European Parliament offer general information about the EP and MEPs and links to the political groups, as well as possibilities to find meeting documents, draft reports and reports of committees.
The Legislative Observatory offers search opportunities (not always easy to master) and possibilities to follow individual procedures.
Ahead of the European elections in June 2009, the European Parliament has launched informative election pages.
All in all, the proceedings of the European Parliament leave a fairly clear paper trail (although the reasons given may be opaque) and the materials on the political work are relatively accessible for citizens. Compare with the Council’s web pages, and you see the difference.
Although relatively few EU citizens are interested in the inner workings of the European Parliament, it would enhance visibility and accountability to make the meeting documents of the internal bodies (Bureau, Conference of Presidents) readily available on the Internet.
Ralf Grahn
Friday, 13 March 2009
EU budget published officially
Nothing dramatic about this, since the contents of the 2009 budget of the European Union (and preparatory documents) have been available for a long time.
For students, teachers, researchers and others who prefer exact and official references the publication of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2009 in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) offers exactly that.
Look for OJEU 13.3.2009 L 69.
Ralf Grahn
For students, teachers, researchers and others who prefer exact and official references the publication of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2009 in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) offers exactly that.
Look for OJEU 13.3.2009 L 69.
Ralf Grahn
Monday, 21 April 2008
Consolidated Treaty of Lisbon and other EU materials
People continue to arrive at this blog while looking for a consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon, and often they have been referred by a search engine to an older post on consolidated versions or the lack of such.
It seems to take a while for the word to spread that the Council has, at last, published consolidated versions of the amended treaties.
At the same time, below are the main resources concerning the treaty reform process post Nice.
***
New TEU and TFEU
The Council’s provisional consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) has been available since 16 April 2008. Go to the following Lisbon Treaty web page and choose your preferred treaty language (out of 23):
http://consilium.europa.eu/cms3_fo/showPage.asp?id=1296&lang=en
***
Original Treaty of Lisbon
The original unconsolidated Treaty of Lisbon (ToL) with the amendments to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, signed at Lisbon, 13 December 2007, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/1.
The amending Lisbon Treaty is available in 23 treaty languages through:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOIndex.do?year=2007&serie=C&textfield2=306&Submit=Search&_submit=Search&ihmlang=en
***
Current TEU and TEC
Until the Lisbon Treaty amendments enter into force, the European Union and the European Community continue to work according to the Nice and accession treaties. In addition to being the legislation in force, the current treaties form the basis for comparison with the proposed changes.
The latest consolidated versions of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, OJ 29.12.2006 C 321 E/1.
For the consolidated treaties in force in your preferred language version among the then 21 treaty languages (Bulgarian and Romanian missing), go to:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOIndex.do?year=2006&serie=C&textfield2=321E&Submit=Search&_submit=Search&ihmlang=en
***
Draft Constitution
After the less than satisfactory Treaty of Nice, the treaty reform process was re-launched by the Laeken Declaration and the work accomplished by the European Convention, which produced the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, published OJ 18.7.2003 C 169/1.
Here you can find the draft Constitution, which formed the basis for the following intergovernmental conference(s) (IGC 2003 and 2004) and most of the proposals debated today, in the treaty languages at that time (excluding Gaelic and the official languages of the entrants 2004 and later):
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOIndex.do?year=2003&serie=C&textfield2=169&Submit=Search&_submit=Search&ihmlang=en
***
Constitution
During the IGC 2004 the governments of the member states agreed on and signed the Treaty establishing the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, published OJ 16.12.2004 C 310/1. By then, ten countries had become EU members in 2004 and Gaelic had become an official EU language, so only Bulgarian and Romanian language versions are unavailable there.
The Constitutional Treaty, which was ratified by two thirds of the member states, is available at:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?year=2004&serie=C&textfield2=310&Submit=S%C3%B6k&_submit=S%C3%B6k&ihmlang=en
***
Other consolidations
Before the Council published its consolidations, there were – as far as I was able to find out – consolidated versions for a minority of the member states, but a majority of EU citizens through other channels. The latest compilation was the blawg post ‘Consolidated EU Lisbon Treaty Update April 2008’, published 9 April 2008:
http://grahnlaw.blogspot.com/2008/04/consolidated-eu-lisbon-treaty-update.html
A blog post ‘Lisbon Treaty updates: Promising and promised’ of 15 April 2008 added information on two new publications by the IIEA, a new highlighted version making it easy to see the changes and an Irish Gaelic consolidation:
http://grahnlaw.blogspot.com/2008/04/lisbon-treaty-updates-promising-and.html
***
Dear Reader,
Consolidations in book form, commentaries, articles and official papers on the Treaty of Lisbon, as well as on EU law and politics generally, are in constant demand. Please, share your information with me and the readers of this blog.
Ralf Grahn
It seems to take a while for the word to spread that the Council has, at last, published consolidated versions of the amended treaties.
At the same time, below are the main resources concerning the treaty reform process post Nice.
***
New TEU and TFEU
The Council’s provisional consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) has been available since 16 April 2008. Go to the following Lisbon Treaty web page and choose your preferred treaty language (out of 23):
http://consilium.europa.eu/cms3_fo/showPage.asp?id=1296&lang=en
***
Original Treaty of Lisbon
The original unconsolidated Treaty of Lisbon (ToL) with the amendments to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, signed at Lisbon, 13 December 2007, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/1.
The amending Lisbon Treaty is available in 23 treaty languages through:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOIndex.do?year=2007&serie=C&textfield2=306&Submit=Search&_submit=Search&ihmlang=en
***
Current TEU and TEC
Until the Lisbon Treaty amendments enter into force, the European Union and the European Community continue to work according to the Nice and accession treaties. In addition to being the legislation in force, the current treaties form the basis for comparison with the proposed changes.
The latest consolidated versions of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, OJ 29.12.2006 C 321 E/1.
For the consolidated treaties in force in your preferred language version among the then 21 treaty languages (Bulgarian and Romanian missing), go to:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOIndex.do?year=2006&serie=C&textfield2=321E&Submit=Search&_submit=Search&ihmlang=en
***
Draft Constitution
After the less than satisfactory Treaty of Nice, the treaty reform process was re-launched by the Laeken Declaration and the work accomplished by the European Convention, which produced the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, published OJ 18.7.2003 C 169/1.
Here you can find the draft Constitution, which formed the basis for the following intergovernmental conference(s) (IGC 2003 and 2004) and most of the proposals debated today, in the treaty languages at that time (excluding Gaelic and the official languages of the entrants 2004 and later):
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOIndex.do?year=2003&serie=C&textfield2=169&Submit=Search&_submit=Search&ihmlang=en
***
Constitution
During the IGC 2004 the governments of the member states agreed on and signed the Treaty establishing the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, published OJ 16.12.2004 C 310/1. By then, ten countries had become EU members in 2004 and Gaelic had become an official EU language, so only Bulgarian and Romanian language versions are unavailable there.
The Constitutional Treaty, which was ratified by two thirds of the member states, is available at:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?year=2004&serie=C&textfield2=310&Submit=S%C3%B6k&_submit=S%C3%B6k&ihmlang=en
***
Other consolidations
Before the Council published its consolidations, there were – as far as I was able to find out – consolidated versions for a minority of the member states, but a majority of EU citizens through other channels. The latest compilation was the blawg post ‘Consolidated EU Lisbon Treaty Update April 2008’, published 9 April 2008:
http://grahnlaw.blogspot.com/2008/04/consolidated-eu-lisbon-treaty-update.html
A blog post ‘Lisbon Treaty updates: Promising and promised’ of 15 April 2008 added information on two new publications by the IIEA, a new highlighted version making it easy to see the changes and an Irish Gaelic consolidation:
http://grahnlaw.blogspot.com/2008/04/lisbon-treaty-updates-promising-and.html
***
Dear Reader,
Consolidations in book form, commentaries, articles and official papers on the Treaty of Lisbon, as well as on EU law and politics generally, are in constant demand. Please, share your information with me and the readers of this blog.
Ralf Grahn
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Consolidated EU Lisbon Treaty in 23 languages
The Council of the European Union has finally published the readable, consolidated Treaty of Lisbon in 23 treaty languages on its web site. Go to:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/showPage.asp?lang=en&id=1296&mode=g&name=
In a few days ten months would have passed from the European Council meeting, which decided to convene the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2007), ten long months without a readable version of the most important EC and EU document since 2004.
Finally, most of the EU’s 490 million citizens can read the treaty in their own language (or at least the official language of their country) as it is supposed to stand when it enters into force.
Based on consolidated versions Europeans can at least begin to (mis)understand each other on a common basis of facts.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. After checking the Official Journal this morning, I had to do other things than to continue chasing the promised consolidations. I got the above information from John Carroll of Semper Idem on his Irish Election blog, a post called 'Lisbon - The nuts and bolts', of 16 April 2008:
http://www.irishelection.com/04/lisbon-the-nuts-and-bolts/
I am grateful to John Carroll for both his kind words and for the essential information on publication of the amending EU treaties.
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/showPage.asp?lang=en&id=1296&mode=g&name=
In a few days ten months would have passed from the European Council meeting, which decided to convene the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2007), ten long months without a readable version of the most important EC and EU document since 2004.
Finally, most of the EU’s 490 million citizens can read the treaty in their own language (or at least the official language of their country) as it is supposed to stand when it enters into force.
Based on consolidated versions Europeans can at least begin to (mis)understand each other on a common basis of facts.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. After checking the Official Journal this morning, I had to do other things than to continue chasing the promised consolidations. I got the above information from John Carroll of Semper Idem on his Irish Election blog, a post called 'Lisbon - The nuts and bolts', of 16 April 2008:
http://www.irishelection.com/04/lisbon-the-nuts-and-bolts/
I am grateful to John Carroll for both his kind words and for the essential information on publication of the amending EU treaties.
Readable Lisbon Treaty: Four months gone and missing
The European Convention worked openly and its draft Constitution was published immediately. The IGC 2004 operated behind the closed doors, and it took one and a half month to publish its full results, the Constitutional Treaty, in the Official Journal.
The Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community was signed at Lisbon 13 December 2007. Today is 16 April 2008, so more than four months have passed without readable, consolidated versions published in each of the now 23 treaty languages.
***
The Lisbon Treaty is arguably the most important EC and EU document since 2004. If all legislation including proposals should be in the public domain, in a full and readable form – including tennis rackets aboard planes or not – the founding treaties are the one EU example above all others, long before they enter into force.
The Treaty of Lisbon is the document intended to define our rights and obligations as EU citizens, and of the member state(s) we are citizens of and where we live. We have a legitimate interest to know in full how these relationships are being defined and what the needed ratifications entail.
The Council, I am sorry to say, took the opposite view. Without any public justification it decided to postpone the publication of the consolidated versions until the Lisbon Treaty would have entered into force. If precedents were needed, one would have to return to an almost forgotten era, the Treaty of Nice, signed in 2001, and a world where web publishing was in its early stages.
***
Luckily, some private individuals, organisations, parliaments and even governments broke the conspiracy of silence by publishing consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty. Among these were some of the governments rumoured to be among the opponents of publishing in the Council.
But until this day, only a part of the citizens of the European Union have access to a (fairly accurate) consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty in their own language.
***
Finally, there was good news. The Council must have relented. The following information was posted on the Commission’s web site dedicated to the Lisbon Treaty:
“A consolidated version of the Treaty will be published on 15 April on the web and on 9 May on paper version.”
***
Finally, I thought, and 9 April 2008 posted what I reckoned to be the final update on different consolidated versions ‘Consolidated EU Lisbon Treaty Update April 2008’, as a tribute to those who have produced and published consolidations and as a last reminder to those who needed one during the final week before official publication.
***
Yesterday was to be the great day for EU citizens.
I scoured every imaginable EU web site in search of the consolidations without finding any new mention (including any explanation for the delay).
Later in the day, I queried Europe direct by e-mail, but received no immediate answer.
***
A short while ago I checked the Official Journal of 16 April 2008 as well as the Council’s web site. A new day is beginning, but still nothing.
***
In addition to all the lofty principles of closeness, openness, transparency and democracy that permeate the Lisbon Treaty, it is ironic that the same governments who have intentionally delayed the publication of readable treaties are the ones who have declared the importance of national translations in regional and minority languages.
For a good laugh, let us turn to Declaration number 16 contained in the Final Act of the Treaty of Lisbon (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/254):
16. Declaration on Article 53(2) of the Treaty on European Union
The Conference considers that the possibility of producing translations of the Treaties in the languages mentioned in Article 53(2) contributes to fulfilling the objective of respecting the Union's rich cultural and linguistic diversity as set forth in the fourth subparagraph of Article 2(3). In this context, the Conference confirms the attachment of the Union to the cultural diversity of Europe and the special attention it will continue to pay to these and other languages.
The Conference recommends that those Member States wishing to avail themselves of the possibility recognised in Article 53(2) communicate to the Council, within six months from the date of the signature of the Treaty of Lisbon, the language or languages into which translations of the Treaties will be made.
***
Yes, how about the official languages to start with?
***
The only thing citizens and bloggers can do is to keep the repeated failures of the Council in public view and the intergovernmental machinations in distrust.
Ralf Grahn
The Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community was signed at Lisbon 13 December 2007. Today is 16 April 2008, so more than four months have passed without readable, consolidated versions published in each of the now 23 treaty languages.
***
The Lisbon Treaty is arguably the most important EC and EU document since 2004. If all legislation including proposals should be in the public domain, in a full and readable form – including tennis rackets aboard planes or not – the founding treaties are the one EU example above all others, long before they enter into force.
The Treaty of Lisbon is the document intended to define our rights and obligations as EU citizens, and of the member state(s) we are citizens of and where we live. We have a legitimate interest to know in full how these relationships are being defined and what the needed ratifications entail.
The Council, I am sorry to say, took the opposite view. Without any public justification it decided to postpone the publication of the consolidated versions until the Lisbon Treaty would have entered into force. If precedents were needed, one would have to return to an almost forgotten era, the Treaty of Nice, signed in 2001, and a world where web publishing was in its early stages.
***
Luckily, some private individuals, organisations, parliaments and even governments broke the conspiracy of silence by publishing consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty. Among these were some of the governments rumoured to be among the opponents of publishing in the Council.
But until this day, only a part of the citizens of the European Union have access to a (fairly accurate) consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty in their own language.
***
Finally, there was good news. The Council must have relented. The following information was posted on the Commission’s web site dedicated to the Lisbon Treaty:
“A consolidated version of the Treaty will be published on 15 April on the web and on 9 May on paper version.”
***
Finally, I thought, and 9 April 2008 posted what I reckoned to be the final update on different consolidated versions ‘Consolidated EU Lisbon Treaty Update April 2008’, as a tribute to those who have produced and published consolidations and as a last reminder to those who needed one during the final week before official publication.
***
Yesterday was to be the great day for EU citizens.
I scoured every imaginable EU web site in search of the consolidations without finding any new mention (including any explanation for the delay).
Later in the day, I queried Europe direct by e-mail, but received no immediate answer.
***
A short while ago I checked the Official Journal of 16 April 2008 as well as the Council’s web site. A new day is beginning, but still nothing.
***
In addition to all the lofty principles of closeness, openness, transparency and democracy that permeate the Lisbon Treaty, it is ironic that the same governments who have intentionally delayed the publication of readable treaties are the ones who have declared the importance of national translations in regional and minority languages.
For a good laugh, let us turn to Declaration number 16 contained in the Final Act of the Treaty of Lisbon (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/254):
16. Declaration on Article 53(2) of the Treaty on European Union
The Conference considers that the possibility of producing translations of the Treaties in the languages mentioned in Article 53(2) contributes to fulfilling the objective of respecting the Union's rich cultural and linguistic diversity as set forth in the fourth subparagraph of Article 2(3). In this context, the Conference confirms the attachment of the Union to the cultural diversity of Europe and the special attention it will continue to pay to these and other languages.
The Conference recommends that those Member States wishing to avail themselves of the possibility recognised in Article 53(2) communicate to the Council, within six months from the date of the signature of the Treaty of Lisbon, the language or languages into which translations of the Treaties will be made.
***
Yes, how about the official languages to start with?
***
The only thing citizens and bloggers can do is to keep the repeated failures of the Council in public view and the intergovernmental machinations in distrust.
Ralf Grahn
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
Lisbon Treaty updates: Promising and promised
Promising: In addition to the first consolidation of the Lisbon Treaty and the later updated and complete consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), Peadar ó Broin of the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA), in Dublin, has kindly informed me that there is a new, consolidated, highlighted and annotated version of the Treaty of Lisbon in English and a consolidated Irish Gaelic version.
They have not been published on the Institute’s web pages yet, but try asking for a copy by e-mail.
***
Promised: The clock is ticking this Tuesday 15 April 2008, but I have yet to find information from any EU institution consistent with the following information posted on the Commission’s web page on the Treaty of Lisbon:
“A consolidated version of the Treaty will be published on 15 April on the web and on 9 May on paper version.”
Where is it?
Ralf Grahn
They have not been published on the Institute’s web pages yet, but try asking for a copy by e-mail.
***
Promised: The clock is ticking this Tuesday 15 April 2008, but I have yet to find information from any EU institution consistent with the following information posted on the Commission’s web page on the Treaty of Lisbon:
“A consolidated version of the Treaty will be published on 15 April on the web and on 9 May on paper version.”
Where is it?
Ralf Grahn
Saturday, 29 March 2008
Consolidated EU Lisbon Treaty Update 29 March 2008
My search for readable, consolidated versions of the coming EU Reform Treaty, the Treaty of Lisbon, started in October 2007 and continues until the Council has published consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty in every official language of the European Union.
The goal is in sight, but we are not yet there. Therefore I want to present a short update, which builds on the latest relevant posts.
***
The latest overview of existing consolidated language versions is to be found in the 5 March 2008 post ‘EU UE: Lisbon Lissabon Lisboa Lisbonne Lisbona Lisboa’:
http://grahnlaw.blogspot.com/2008/03/eu-ue-lisbon-lissabon-lisboa-lisbonne.html
***
Then there is the 25 March 2008 addendum ‘Complete French Consolidated Lisbon Treaty’ about two language versions. The Swedish pocket version has now been published, and since the post I have received my own copy. It was a positive surprise that it contains the Charter of Fundamental Rights, Protocols, a Table of equivalences and a five page Register in addition to the consolidated treaty texts.
The post spread the announcement of a new French consolidated version by Christine Kaddous and Fabrice Picod:
http://grahnlaw.blogspot.com/2008/03/complete-french-consolidated-lisbon.html
***
The latest addition was the confirmation in the press release of the government of Finland that the Council is actually going to publish consolidated versions of the Treaty of Lisbon in every official language of the European Union, in April. See the 27 March 2008 post ‘Finland: EU Lisbon Treaty ratification bill’
http://grahnlaw.blogspot.com/2008/03/finland-eu-lisbon-treaty-ratification.html
***
Naturally, it is a great step forward when there are consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty available to all EU citizens, but experience has shown that both printed and other web versions are still in demand.
In order to keep the readers of this blog informed, I appreciate if you tell me about new consolidations and secondary literature on the Treaty of Lisbon (and the European Union in general), such as official documents, brochures, commentaries, scholarly assessments and textbooks in different languages.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Updated update: The Commission has quietly updated its Questions and Answers section about the Lisbon Treaty in the following way:
“A consolidated version of the Treaty will be published on 15 April on the web and on 9 May on paper version.”
http://europa.eu/lisbon_treaty/faq/index_en.htm#20
The goal is in sight, but we are not yet there. Therefore I want to present a short update, which builds on the latest relevant posts.
***
The latest overview of existing consolidated language versions is to be found in the 5 March 2008 post ‘EU UE: Lisbon Lissabon Lisboa Lisbonne Lisbona Lisboa’:
http://grahnlaw.blogspot.com/2008/03/eu-ue-lisbon-lissabon-lisboa-lisbonne.html
***
Then there is the 25 March 2008 addendum ‘Complete French Consolidated Lisbon Treaty’ about two language versions. The Swedish pocket version has now been published, and since the post I have received my own copy. It was a positive surprise that it contains the Charter of Fundamental Rights, Protocols, a Table of equivalences and a five page Register in addition to the consolidated treaty texts.
The post spread the announcement of a new French consolidated version by Christine Kaddous and Fabrice Picod:
http://grahnlaw.blogspot.com/2008/03/complete-french-consolidated-lisbon.html
***
The latest addition was the confirmation in the press release of the government of Finland that the Council is actually going to publish consolidated versions of the Treaty of Lisbon in every official language of the European Union, in April. See the 27 March 2008 post ‘Finland: EU Lisbon Treaty ratification bill’
http://grahnlaw.blogspot.com/2008/03/finland-eu-lisbon-treaty-ratification.html
***
Naturally, it is a great step forward when there are consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty available to all EU citizens, but experience has shown that both printed and other web versions are still in demand.
In order to keep the readers of this blog informed, I appreciate if you tell me about new consolidations and secondary literature on the Treaty of Lisbon (and the European Union in general), such as official documents, brochures, commentaries, scholarly assessments and textbooks in different languages.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Updated update: The Commission has quietly updated its Questions and Answers section about the Lisbon Treaty in the following way:
“A consolidated version of the Treaty will be published on 15 April on the web and on 9 May on paper version.”
http://europa.eu/lisbon_treaty/faq/index_en.htm#20
Saturday, 22 March 2008
EU: Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
Where do I find a consolidated, readable version of the EU’s Treaty of Lisbon?
How is the accuracy of the Article by Article Lisbon Treaty consolidation appearing on this blog checked?
I answer the questions in reverse order:
After arriving at what I think would be the consolidated wording of an Article, I usually compare it with four existing consolidations to see if I got it right (or if they did). They are the following versions: the IIEA, the FCO, Statewatch and Klemens H. Fischer.
The practical and sane quite naturally access these consolidations or other (language) versions directly. My latest compilation of references to existing consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty in different languages is found in the post ‘EU UE: Lisbon Lissabon Lisboa Lisbonne Lisbona Lisboa’ of 5 March 2008:
http://grahnlaw.blogspot.com/2008/03/eu-ue-lisbon-lissabon-lisboa-lisbonne.html
I hope that the Council is aware of the fact that there is a continuing daily trickle of visitors to this blog, who are looking for a consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon, but the search engines seem to steer them towards earlier versions of the list.
If the Council cared for transparency and sound priorities, it would surely long ago have published consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty in every official language of the European Union, because it is arguably the most important document to emanate from the EU since 2004.
Because the Council has referred to practices concerning earlier treaty reforms, it is meet to point out that both the web and conceptions about public communications have evolved greatly since 2001, when the Treaty of Nice was signed, and that the draft Constitution was published immediately and that the Constitution was published about a month and a half after signing, both in the Official Journal in all the treaty languages.
Why revert to worst practices?
Ralf Grahn
How is the accuracy of the Article by Article Lisbon Treaty consolidation appearing on this blog checked?
I answer the questions in reverse order:
After arriving at what I think would be the consolidated wording of an Article, I usually compare it with four existing consolidations to see if I got it right (or if they did). They are the following versions: the IIEA, the FCO, Statewatch and Klemens H. Fischer.
The practical and sane quite naturally access these consolidations or other (language) versions directly. My latest compilation of references to existing consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty in different languages is found in the post ‘EU UE: Lisbon Lissabon Lisboa Lisbonne Lisbona Lisboa’ of 5 March 2008:
http://grahnlaw.blogspot.com/2008/03/eu-ue-lisbon-lissabon-lisboa-lisbonne.html
I hope that the Council is aware of the fact that there is a continuing daily trickle of visitors to this blog, who are looking for a consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon, but the search engines seem to steer them towards earlier versions of the list.
If the Council cared for transparency and sound priorities, it would surely long ago have published consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty in every official language of the European Union, because it is arguably the most important document to emanate from the EU since 2004.
Because the Council has referred to practices concerning earlier treaty reforms, it is meet to point out that both the web and conceptions about public communications have evolved greatly since 2001, when the Treaty of Nice was signed, and that the draft Constitution was published immediately and that the Constitution was published about a month and a half after signing, both in the Official Journal in all the treaty languages.
Why revert to worst practices?
Ralf Grahn
Friday, 8 February 2008
Lisbon Treaty: Consolidated language versions
There is a continuing stream of people looking for a consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon arriving at this blog. Since it may be tricky to find the information in the archive, I decided to compile the essence of a few posts on consolidations in English and other languages.
Please, note that this time I did not have time to check if the links are still working, or if there are pleasant surprises such as updates with protocols etc.
Let us remember that the European Union has 23 official languages. The seven or eight language versions I have noticed to date cover only parts of our community of 490 million citizens.
Here are the language versions found this far (almost all in pdf format), with the languages mentioned in alphabetical order in English:
Danish
The EU information of the Danish parliament communicates actively. Some information is available in English, too. The consolidated Lisbon Treaty is an update.
Folketingets EU-Oplysning: Sammenskrevet udgave af udkastet til Lissabon-traktaten og det gaeldande traktatunderlag; Bind 1 Traktater, Bind 2 Protokoller og erklaeringer;
http://www.eu-oplysningen.dk/emner/reformtraktat/reform/sammenskrevet/
***
Dutch
The DJ Nozem blog pointed me towards this new consolidation in Word format, compiled by René Barents and posted on the web site of the daily NRC Handelsblad.
René Barents: Geconsolideerde teksten van het Verdrag betreffende de Europese Unie en het Verdrag betreffende de werking van de Europese Unie zoals gewijzigd door het Verdrag van Lissabon
http://www.nrc.nl/redactie/Europa/verdraglissabon_barents.doc
***
English
IIEA
Peadar ó Broin at the Institute of International and European Affairs (Dublin, Ireland) has produced a complete consolidation of the amended treaties, including the protocols and annexes, in a format easy to read (pdf).
Treaty on European Union
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Annexes to the EU and FEU Treaties
Protocols to the EU and FEU Treaties and, where appropriate, to the EAEC Treaty
Go to http://www.iiea.com
Statewatch
Professor Steve Peers has painstakingly compiled a version consisting of several files for the Statewatch Observatory on the EU Constitution and the Reform Treaty, where similarities and differences between the different reform stages are highlighted
Go to http://www.statewatch.org
FCO
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office published a consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon. The ratification debate in the House of Commons is ongoing.
The FCO web pages on Britain in the EU contain both general information on the Reform Treaty and answers on specific questions in addition to the consolidation I just mentioned. For the consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty, see Command Paper 7310 ‘Consolidated texts of the EU Treaties as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon’:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/FCO_PDF_CM7310_ConsolidatedTreaties.pdf
The FCO also published Command Paper 7311 ‘A comparative table of the current EC and EU Treaties as amended by the treaty of Lisbon’, which briefly sets out the similarities and differences between the Lisbon Treaty and the other relevant Treaties article by article. Available through the Official Documents web page (as is Cm 7310 mentioned above):
http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/
Markus Walther
Markus Walther, a German student from Leipzig, who produced and published a German consolidated version of the EU Treaty of Lisbon on his web site, posted an English readable consolidated version as well (a preliminary document without protocols and charter).
Go to http://www.mwalther.net/europa/eulaw-lisbon-mwalther.pdf
Open Europe
Open Europe produced a consolidated version with the Treaty of Lisbon and the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe presented side by side for convenient comparison.
Open Europe: The Lisbon Treaty and the European Constitution: A side-by-side comparison; January 2008;
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/comparative.pdf
***
Finnish
Europe Information, of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, has promised a consolidated version during the spring.
***
French
Assemblée nationale : Rapport d’information sur les modifications apportées par le traité de Lisbonne au traité sur l’Union européenne et au traité instituant la Communauté européenne, par M. Axel Poniatowski ; No 439, 28 novembre 2007 ;
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/pdf/rap-info/i0439.pdf
***
Gaelic
A consolidation in Irish Gaelic promised shortly by the Institute of International and European Affairs, Dublin.
***
German
Markus Walther: Das Primärrecht der Europäischen Union; Endfassung, Stand 18. Dezember 2007; (updated after signing)
http://www.mwalther.net/union.html
***
Hungarian
Two sources reported that the Hungarian government has published a consolidation of the Lisbon Treaty, although was not able to verify it. But I encourage anyone with the linguistic and technical skills to search (and to report back).
***
Spanish
Real Instituto Elcano (updated after signing; read the introductory study)
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org
***
Swedish
Sieps – Svenska institutet för europapolitiska studier
Ladda ned Lissabonfördraget - Konsoliderad version av EU:s fördrag (pdf)
Ladda ned Lissabonfördraget – Protokoll mm (pdf)
http://www.sieps.se
***
I am most grateful, if you want to share your knowledge on the Treaty of Lisbon with me and other EU citizens: consolidated versions as well as books and resources, such as official documents from the member states, popular presentations and scholarly literature, plus information on the ratification processes.
Ralf Grahn
Please, note that this time I did not have time to check if the links are still working, or if there are pleasant surprises such as updates with protocols etc.
Let us remember that the European Union has 23 official languages. The seven or eight language versions I have noticed to date cover only parts of our community of 490 million citizens.
Here are the language versions found this far (almost all in pdf format), with the languages mentioned in alphabetical order in English:
Danish
The EU information of the Danish parliament communicates actively. Some information is available in English, too. The consolidated Lisbon Treaty is an update.
Folketingets EU-Oplysning: Sammenskrevet udgave af udkastet til Lissabon-traktaten og det gaeldande traktatunderlag; Bind 1 Traktater, Bind 2 Protokoller og erklaeringer;
http://www.eu-oplysningen.dk/emner/reformtraktat/reform/sammenskrevet/
***
Dutch
The DJ Nozem blog pointed me towards this new consolidation in Word format, compiled by René Barents and posted on the web site of the daily NRC Handelsblad.
René Barents: Geconsolideerde teksten van het Verdrag betreffende de Europese Unie en het Verdrag betreffende de werking van de Europese Unie zoals gewijzigd door het Verdrag van Lissabon
http://www.nrc.nl/redactie/Europa/verdraglissabon_barents.doc
***
English
IIEA
Peadar ó Broin at the Institute of International and European Affairs (Dublin, Ireland) has produced a complete consolidation of the amended treaties, including the protocols and annexes, in a format easy to read (pdf).
Treaty on European Union
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Annexes to the EU and FEU Treaties
Protocols to the EU and FEU Treaties and, where appropriate, to the EAEC Treaty
Go to http://www.iiea.com
Statewatch
Professor Steve Peers has painstakingly compiled a version consisting of several files for the Statewatch Observatory on the EU Constitution and the Reform Treaty, where similarities and differences between the different reform stages are highlighted
Go to http://www.statewatch.org
FCO
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office published a consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon. The ratification debate in the House of Commons is ongoing.
The FCO web pages on Britain in the EU contain both general information on the Reform Treaty and answers on specific questions in addition to the consolidation I just mentioned. For the consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty, see Command Paper 7310 ‘Consolidated texts of the EU Treaties as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon’:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/FCO_PDF_CM7310_ConsolidatedTreaties.pdf
The FCO also published Command Paper 7311 ‘A comparative table of the current EC and EU Treaties as amended by the treaty of Lisbon’, which briefly sets out the similarities and differences between the Lisbon Treaty and the other relevant Treaties article by article. Available through the Official Documents web page (as is Cm 7310 mentioned above):
http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/
Markus Walther
Markus Walther, a German student from Leipzig, who produced and published a German consolidated version of the EU Treaty of Lisbon on his web site, posted an English readable consolidated version as well (a preliminary document without protocols and charter).
Go to http://www.mwalther.net/europa/eulaw-lisbon-mwalther.pdf
Open Europe
Open Europe produced a consolidated version with the Treaty of Lisbon and the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe presented side by side for convenient comparison.
Open Europe: The Lisbon Treaty and the European Constitution: A side-by-side comparison; January 2008;
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/comparative.pdf
***
Finnish
Europe Information, of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, has promised a consolidated version during the spring.
***
French
Assemblée nationale : Rapport d’information sur les modifications apportées par le traité de Lisbonne au traité sur l’Union européenne et au traité instituant la Communauté européenne, par M. Axel Poniatowski ; No 439, 28 novembre 2007 ;
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/pdf/rap-info/i0439.pdf
***
Gaelic
A consolidation in Irish Gaelic promised shortly by the Institute of International and European Affairs, Dublin.
***
German
Markus Walther: Das Primärrecht der Europäischen Union; Endfassung, Stand 18. Dezember 2007; (updated after signing)
http://www.mwalther.net/union.html
***
Hungarian
Two sources reported that the Hungarian government has published a consolidation of the Lisbon Treaty, although was not able to verify it. But I encourage anyone with the linguistic and technical skills to search (and to report back).
***
Spanish
Real Instituto Elcano (updated after signing; read the introductory study)
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org
***
Swedish
Sieps – Svenska institutet för europapolitiska studier
Ladda ned Lissabonfördraget - Konsoliderad version av EU:s fördrag (pdf)
Ladda ned Lissabonfördraget – Protokoll mm (pdf)
http://www.sieps.se
***
I am most grateful, if you want to share your knowledge on the Treaty of Lisbon with me and other EU citizens: consolidated versions as well as books and resources, such as official documents from the member states, popular presentations and scholarly literature, plus information on the ratification processes.
Ralf Grahn
On publishing the Lisbon Treaty
I expect fair play from European governments, at home and when they work jointly through the Council of the European Union. I accept that our political system is based on representative democracy entailing accountability of the elected, and the right of the voters to change government.
Actually, I am more worried when I see political parties, potential holders of office, at election times or otherwise, giving in to populist pressures, be they substantial or procedural: cutting taxes needed for ongoing programmes, or new benefits without corresponding financing, or rash promises of referendums, to name a few.
With representative democracy comes responsibility towards the electorate, what I call fair play: openness and transparency giving the tools for democratic debate, more or less enlightened, but perhaps a bit more sane if the facts and reasons are out in the open.
These are reasons why I have such problems stomaching the conduct of the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2007), which gave us the much needed reform treaty, the Treaty of Lisbon. Modest as it was, the end result meant breaking the deadlock and giving the European project a push forward. But the IGC 2007, and the intergovernmental Council in general, are sores in our democratic system.
Since the European Union, at its present stage of development, is like a house of cards, based on international treaties between states, not a real Constitution founded on the citizens of the EU, unanimity between 27 member state governments plus ratification by all 27 members are hurdles high enough, in my opinion.
Nothing wrong in parliamentary ratification, then, but I understand the frustration of people who have waited for a promised referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in order to wreck the process, and the squirming of politicians who abdicated their responsibility when they promised a dose of ‘direct democracy’ and now have seen where purely domestic referendum debates lead.
***
If the men and women who signed the Treaty of Lisbon are hard-headed enough to pursue the route of parliamentary ratification (wherever possible), they should at least be proud enough to communicate their achievement openly and fully to all the citizens of the European Union.
By producing gibberish, and by refusing to publish consolidated versions of the Treaty of Lisbon, they sent the subliminal message that something was rotten in the contents of what they had agreed on, that it could not withstand the light of day.
Their decision and refusal not only sent the wrong message to the citizens, it was ultimately futile:
Parliamentary ratification would proceed anyway, regardless of what the public could read and debate. Even the minimum published was enough for dedicated think-tanks and individual to reconstruct the treaties as they would stand after entry into force.
But the ill-judged stonewalling of our leaders has had clear negative consequences:
There are, as far as I know, consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty out in the open only in a minority of the official languages of the European Union. The Council, if it deigned to discuss openly, might contend that offering no consolidated version entails equal treatment of EU citizens, since all are equally disserved. But what about openness, transparency, accountability, citizenship and decisions taken as closely as possible to the citizens?
The lack of readable texts is filled by myth and rumour. Since debate is inevitable, wouldn’t it be better if it was more closely based on facts, or at least that the ones who read the most preposterous arguments can check the real contents and judge the alleged catastrophic effects themselves?
Consolidating the treaties or deciphering their contents has lead to unnecessary duplication of work. The treaties are the fundamental documents of the European Union. Not only are they the basis for democratic debate, they are tools in daily use all over Europe.
Students who want to know the EU they are going to work in, teachers preparing lectures, researchers who could confront the questions directly, journalists checking their facts, public and private organisations operating in an EU environment and politicians at every level, all of them need accessible and readable versions of the single most important piece of legislation to emanate from the European Union since 2004.
My modest blog sees the demand for consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty daily, by the number of visitors who arrive from every corner of as a result of web searches for a readable text and end up here as a result of my numerous postings on the subject. Many of those who lack a readable treaty in their own language, are forced to look for a version in another idiom.
***
My message to the European Council is: Relent. Publish.
***
Not much less sad are the acquiescence of the other EU institutions and the negligible publishing efforts of most of the member states.
Is the general interest subservient to the machinations of governments and is the representation of the citizens of the Union subordinate to the underhand dealings of our national leaders?
The Constitutional Committee of the European Parliament was content to “look forward to” consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty they well know aren’t forthcoming presently.
To my knowledge Jens-Peter Bonde is the only member of the European Parliament who actually has done something to publish the contents of the Lisbon Treaty in a readable format.
Even the European parties seem to be part of this conspiracy of silence, at least the four I contacted by e-mail well before Christmas asking why there are no consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty. Do they actively want to discourage any illusion that they have the citizens’ interests at heart?
***
As long as the Council refuses to publish readable versions of the Treaty of Lisbon, I rejoice every time I find that some think-tank or individual has assumed the burden of producing and publishing a consolidated version.
If the United Kingdom and the Netherlands were most vocally opposed to publishing consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty (as reported by the DJ Nozem blog), it is almost hilarious to know that of at least four consolidations in English, one has been produced by Her Majesty’s government. As far as I know it is the only version published directly by a government.
And as Nanne (DJ Nozem) reported on his blog, René Barents has produced a consolidated Dutch language version of the Treaty of Lisbon, which fills a gap for about 20 million Dutch speaking EU citizens.
***
If an English and a Dutch consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon were deemed especially subversive by the governments in question, I find it extremely satisfying that parliamentary pressure (presumably) and private initiative, respectively, has perforated the premeditated policies of ignorance.
Now there is even less reason to uphold the counter-productive ban on publishing the rest of the language versions.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. The Dutch consolidated Treaty of Lisbon has not been mentioned on this blog before. Here are the details:
René Barents: Geconsolideerde teksten van het Verdrag betreffende de Europese Unie en het Verdrag betreffende de werking van de Europese Unie zoals gewijzigd door het Verdrag van Lissabon
http://www.nrc.nl/redactie/Europa/verdraglissabon_barents.doc
DJ Nozem Blog (Nanne)
http://djnozem.blogspot.com
Dear Reader,
Please tell me if you know about a new consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty, or about official documents, books, research papers and other secondary literature, both popular and scholarly. The web offers us possibilities to share information.
News on the ratification processes is welcome, too.
Help me to help others. Thank you.
Actually, I am more worried when I see political parties, potential holders of office, at election times or otherwise, giving in to populist pressures, be they substantial or procedural: cutting taxes needed for ongoing programmes, or new benefits without corresponding financing, or rash promises of referendums, to name a few.
With representative democracy comes responsibility towards the electorate, what I call fair play: openness and transparency giving the tools for democratic debate, more or less enlightened, but perhaps a bit more sane if the facts and reasons are out in the open.
These are reasons why I have such problems stomaching the conduct of the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2007), which gave us the much needed reform treaty, the Treaty of Lisbon. Modest as it was, the end result meant breaking the deadlock and giving the European project a push forward. But the IGC 2007, and the intergovernmental Council in general, are sores in our democratic system.
Since the European Union, at its present stage of development, is like a house of cards, based on international treaties between states, not a real Constitution founded on the citizens of the EU, unanimity between 27 member state governments plus ratification by all 27 members are hurdles high enough, in my opinion.
Nothing wrong in parliamentary ratification, then, but I understand the frustration of people who have waited for a promised referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in order to wreck the process, and the squirming of politicians who abdicated their responsibility when they promised a dose of ‘direct democracy’ and now have seen where purely domestic referendum debates lead.
***
If the men and women who signed the Treaty of Lisbon are hard-headed enough to pursue the route of parliamentary ratification (wherever possible), they should at least be proud enough to communicate their achievement openly and fully to all the citizens of the European Union.
By producing gibberish, and by refusing to publish consolidated versions of the Treaty of Lisbon, they sent the subliminal message that something was rotten in the contents of what they had agreed on, that it could not withstand the light of day.
Their decision and refusal not only sent the wrong message to the citizens, it was ultimately futile:
Parliamentary ratification would proceed anyway, regardless of what the public could read and debate. Even the minimum published was enough for dedicated think-tanks and individual to reconstruct the treaties as they would stand after entry into force.
But the ill-judged stonewalling of our leaders has had clear negative consequences:
There are, as far as I know, consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty out in the open only in a minority of the official languages of the European Union. The Council, if it deigned to discuss openly, might contend that offering no consolidated version entails equal treatment of EU citizens, since all are equally disserved. But what about openness, transparency, accountability, citizenship and decisions taken as closely as possible to the citizens?
The lack of readable texts is filled by myth and rumour. Since debate is inevitable, wouldn’t it be better if it was more closely based on facts, or at least that the ones who read the most preposterous arguments can check the real contents and judge the alleged catastrophic effects themselves?
Consolidating the treaties or deciphering their contents has lead to unnecessary duplication of work. The treaties are the fundamental documents of the European Union. Not only are they the basis for democratic debate, they are tools in daily use all over Europe.
Students who want to know the EU they are going to work in, teachers preparing lectures, researchers who could confront the questions directly, journalists checking their facts, public and private organisations operating in an EU environment and politicians at every level, all of them need accessible and readable versions of the single most important piece of legislation to emanate from the European Union since 2004.
My modest blog sees the demand for consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty daily, by the number of visitors who arrive from every corner of as a result of web searches for a readable text and end up here as a result of my numerous postings on the subject. Many of those who lack a readable treaty in their own language, are forced to look for a version in another idiom.
***
My message to the European Council is: Relent. Publish.
***
Not much less sad are the acquiescence of the other EU institutions and the negligible publishing efforts of most of the member states.
Is the general interest subservient to the machinations of governments and is the representation of the citizens of the Union subordinate to the underhand dealings of our national leaders?
The Constitutional Committee of the European Parliament was content to “look forward to” consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty they well know aren’t forthcoming presently.
To my knowledge Jens-Peter Bonde is the only member of the European Parliament who actually has done something to publish the contents of the Lisbon Treaty in a readable format.
Even the European parties seem to be part of this conspiracy of silence, at least the four I contacted by e-mail well before Christmas asking why there are no consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty. Do they actively want to discourage any illusion that they have the citizens’ interests at heart?
***
As long as the Council refuses to publish readable versions of the Treaty of Lisbon, I rejoice every time I find that some think-tank or individual has assumed the burden of producing and publishing a consolidated version.
If the United Kingdom and the Netherlands were most vocally opposed to publishing consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty (as reported by the DJ Nozem blog), it is almost hilarious to know that of at least four consolidations in English, one has been produced by Her Majesty’s government. As far as I know it is the only version published directly by a government.
And as Nanne (DJ Nozem) reported on his blog, René Barents has produced a consolidated Dutch language version of the Treaty of Lisbon, which fills a gap for about 20 million Dutch speaking EU citizens.
***
If an English and a Dutch consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon were deemed especially subversive by the governments in question, I find it extremely satisfying that parliamentary pressure (presumably) and private initiative, respectively, has perforated the premeditated policies of ignorance.
Now there is even less reason to uphold the counter-productive ban on publishing the rest of the language versions.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. The Dutch consolidated Treaty of Lisbon has not been mentioned on this blog before. Here are the details:
René Barents: Geconsolideerde teksten van het Verdrag betreffende de Europese Unie en het Verdrag betreffende de werking van de Europese Unie zoals gewijzigd door het Verdrag van Lissabon
http://www.nrc.nl/redactie/Europa/verdraglissabon_barents.doc
DJ Nozem Blog (Nanne)
http://djnozem.blogspot.com
Dear Reader,
Please tell me if you know about a new consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty, or about official documents, books, research papers and other secondary literature, both popular and scholarly. The web offers us possibilities to share information.
News on the ratification processes is welcome, too.
Help me to help others. Thank you.
Thursday, 24 January 2008
EP looks forward to Lisbon Treaty
The Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the European Parliament has voted on a draft report by Richard Corbett and Iñigo Méndez de Vigo on the Treaty of Lisbon. The Committee, at last, looks forward to the rapid publication of the consolidated Treaties as revised by the Treaty of Lisbon, in order to inform European citizens clearly and objectively about the content of the Treaty.
Knowing well that the Council has refused publication before the Treaties are in force, it would be better if the European Parliament rapidly published the consolidated Treaties in all the official languages of the EU (especially the 15 missing language versions), instead of ‘looking forward’ to the unlikely event.
The draft report approved by 20 votes to 6 contained the following conclusions, to be voted on by a plenary session in February, where the European Parliament:
“7. Believes that this Treaty will provide a stable and lasting framework for the future
development of the Union;
8. Endorses the Treaty and hopes that all Member States of the Union will be in a position to
achieve its ratification by 1 January 2009;
9. Is aware that an amending treaty is inevitably less clear and readable than a codified
treaty, but looks forward to the rapid publication of the consolidated Treaties as revised by
the Treaty of Lisbon, which will provide citizens with a clearer basic text of the Union;
10. Reiterates its request that all possible efforts be deployed, both by EU institutions and
national authorities in accordance with the principle of sincere cooperation, in order to
inform European citizens clearly and objectively about the content of the Treaty;
11. Instructs its committee responsible to prepare the necessary changes to its Rules of
Procedure and to assess the needs for further implementing measures;
12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution and the report of the Committee on
Constitutional Affairs to the national parliaments of the Member States, to the Council, to
the European Commission and to the former Members of the Convention on the Future of
Europe, and to ensure that Parliament's services, including its external offices, provide
ample information about Parliament's position on the Treaty.”
Ralf Grahn
Sources:
European Parliament, Committee on Constitutional Affairs: Draft Report on the Treaty of Lisbon (2007/0000(INI); Rapporteurs: Richard Corbett and Iñigo Méndez de Vigo
European Parliament, Press service: Reasons to ratify the Lisbon Treaty this year; 23-01-2008
Knowing well that the Council has refused publication before the Treaties are in force, it would be better if the European Parliament rapidly published the consolidated Treaties in all the official languages of the EU (especially the 15 missing language versions), instead of ‘looking forward’ to the unlikely event.
The draft report approved by 20 votes to 6 contained the following conclusions, to be voted on by a plenary session in February, where the European Parliament:
“7. Believes that this Treaty will provide a stable and lasting framework for the future
development of the Union;
8. Endorses the Treaty and hopes that all Member States of the Union will be in a position to
achieve its ratification by 1 January 2009;
9. Is aware that an amending treaty is inevitably less clear and readable than a codified
treaty, but looks forward to the rapid publication of the consolidated Treaties as revised by
the Treaty of Lisbon, which will provide citizens with a clearer basic text of the Union;
10. Reiterates its request that all possible efforts be deployed, both by EU institutions and
national authorities in accordance with the principle of sincere cooperation, in order to
inform European citizens clearly and objectively about the content of the Treaty;
11. Instructs its committee responsible to prepare the necessary changes to its Rules of
Procedure and to assess the needs for further implementing measures;
12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution and the report of the Committee on
Constitutional Affairs to the national parliaments of the Member States, to the Council, to
the European Commission and to the former Members of the Convention on the Future of
Europe, and to ensure that Parliament's services, including its external offices, provide
ample information about Parliament's position on the Treaty.”
Ralf Grahn
Sources:
European Parliament, Committee on Constitutional Affairs: Draft Report on the Treaty of Lisbon (2007/0000(INI); Rapporteurs: Richard Corbett and Iñigo Méndez de Vigo
European Parliament, Press service: Reasons to ratify the Lisbon Treaty this year; 23-01-2008
Wednesday, 23 January 2008
British consolidated Lisbon Treaty
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has published a consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon. The ratification debate in the House of Commons started this week and is expected to continue for four more weeks.
The FCO web pages on Britain in the EU contain both general information on the Reform Treaty and answers on specific questions in addition to the consolidation I just mentioned. For the consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty, go to:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/FCO_PDF_CM7310_ConsolidatedTreaties.pdf
***
There are other consolidated English language versions of the Lisbon Treaty. Here is a reminder:
IIEA
Peadar ó Broin at the Institute of International and European Affairs (Dublin, Ireland) has produced a complete consolidation of the amended treaties, including the protocols and annexes, in a format easy to read
Treaty on European Union
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Annexes to the EU and FEU Treaties
Protocols to the EU and FEU Treaties and, where appropriate, to the EAEC Treaty
Go to http://www.iiea.com/
Statewatch
Professor Steve Peers has painstakingly compiled a version consisting of several files for the Statewatch Observatory on the EU Constitution and the Reform Treaty, where likenesses and differences between the different reform stages are highlighted
Go to http://www.statewatch.org/
Markus Walther
Markus Walther, a German student who produced and published a German consolidated version of the EU Treaty of Lisbon on his web site, has posted an English readable consolidated version as well (a preliminary document without protocols and charter).
Go to http://www.mwalther.net/europa/eulaw-lisbon-mwalther.pdf
Open Europe
Open Europe has produced a consolidated version with the Treaty of Lisbon and the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe presented side by side for convenient comparison.
Open Europe: The Lisbon Treaty and the European Constitution: A side-by-side comparison; January 2008;
Go to http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/comparative.pdf
***
I refer those who look for other language versions to my earlier posts.
Ralf Grahn
P.S The FCO has also published Command Paper 7311 A comparative table of the current EC and EU Treaties as amended by the treaty of Lisbon, which briefly sets out the similarities and differences between the Lisbon Treaty and the other relevant Treaties. Available through the Official Documents web page (as is Cm 7310 mentioned above):
http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/
The FCO web pages on Britain in the EU contain both general information on the Reform Treaty and answers on specific questions in addition to the consolidation I just mentioned. For the consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty, go to:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/FCO_PDF_CM7310_ConsolidatedTreaties.pdf
***
There are other consolidated English language versions of the Lisbon Treaty. Here is a reminder:
IIEA
Peadar ó Broin at the Institute of International and European Affairs (Dublin, Ireland) has produced a complete consolidation of the amended treaties, including the protocols and annexes, in a format easy to read
Treaty on European Union
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Annexes to the EU and FEU Treaties
Protocols to the EU and FEU Treaties and, where appropriate, to the EAEC Treaty
Go to http://www.iiea.com/
Statewatch
Professor Steve Peers has painstakingly compiled a version consisting of several files for the Statewatch Observatory on the EU Constitution and the Reform Treaty, where likenesses and differences between the different reform stages are highlighted
Go to http://www.statewatch.org/
Markus Walther
Markus Walther, a German student who produced and published a German consolidated version of the EU Treaty of Lisbon on his web site, has posted an English readable consolidated version as well (a preliminary document without protocols and charter).
Go to http://www.mwalther.net/europa/eulaw-lisbon-mwalther.pdf
Open Europe
Open Europe has produced a consolidated version with the Treaty of Lisbon and the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe presented side by side for convenient comparison.
Open Europe: The Lisbon Treaty and the European Constitution: A side-by-side comparison; January 2008;
Go to http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/comparative.pdf
***
I refer those who look for other language versions to my earlier posts.
Ralf Grahn
P.S The FCO has also published Command Paper 7311 A comparative table of the current EC and EU Treaties as amended by the treaty of Lisbon, which briefly sets out the similarities and differences between the Lisbon Treaty and the other relevant Treaties. Available through the Official Documents web page (as is Cm 7310 mentioned above):
http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/
Monday, 21 January 2008
Lisbon and Constitution side by side
The anti-EU lobbying group Open Europe has published an updated version of their comparison of the EU Lisbon Treaty and the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. The treaty texts are presented side by side, with the differences easy to spot.
The numbering of the articles follows the plan for a coming officially unofficial consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty to be published by the European Union, when all the ratification processes are over and the Reform Treaty in force.
(My blog has looked at the the Treaty of Lisbon according to the numbering given by the intergovernmental conference and will continue to do so, on the assumption that the reader of the treaty searches for answers to an article with the specific number mentioned in the amending treaty as presented.)
***
Open Europe’s press summary 21 January 2008 included the following:
“Saturday’s Times reported that EU Communications Commissioner Margot Wallstrom has said that the European Council is refusing her request to publish a readable version of the Lisbon Treaty. Such a text will only be made public after ratification in the member states.”
(I refer to my numerous posts on the matter of consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty for the citizens of the European Union.)
Ralf Grahn
Source:
Open Europe: The Lisbon Treaty and the European Constitution: A side-by-side comparison; January 2008;
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/comparative.pdf
Open Europe: Press summary archive; 21 January 2008;
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/media-centre/summary.aspx?id=511
The numbering of the articles follows the plan for a coming officially unofficial consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty to be published by the European Union, when all the ratification processes are over and the Reform Treaty in force.
(My blog has looked at the the Treaty of Lisbon according to the numbering given by the intergovernmental conference and will continue to do so, on the assumption that the reader of the treaty searches for answers to an article with the specific number mentioned in the amending treaty as presented.)
***
Open Europe’s press summary 21 January 2008 included the following:
“Saturday’s Times reported that EU Communications Commissioner Margot Wallstrom has said that the European Council is refusing her request to publish a readable version of the Lisbon Treaty. Such a text will only be made public after ratification in the member states.”
(I refer to my numerous posts on the matter of consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty for the citizens of the European Union.)
Ralf Grahn
Source:
Open Europe: The Lisbon Treaty and the European Constitution: A side-by-side comparison; January 2008;
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/comparative.pdf
Open Europe: Press summary archive; 21 January 2008;
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/media-centre/summary.aspx?id=511
Friday, 18 January 2008
Complete consolidated Lisbon Treaty in English
Yesterday I mentioned the updated and consolidated English language version of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) by Peadar ó Broin, of the Institute of International and European Affairs (Dublin, Ireland).
Now Peadar ó Broin has informed me that the Annexes to the Treaties as well as the Protocols have been added to the Institute’s web site:
http://www.iiea.com/
The Treaties, Annexes and Protocols can be downloaded freely.
I thank Peadar ó Broin for his work and the IIEA for making it possible. They have made life easier for a lot of people.
***
We know that there is going to be a referendum in Ireland on the Treaty of Lisbon. The consolidations serve important domestic needs as a factual basis for public debate. But, at the same time the published consolidated versions offer needed reliable information to all European citizens and others who are able to use texts in English, especially those who have no consolidated version in their own language.
Dear Reader,
I look forward to further information from you on the Treaty of Lisbon: consolidated versions, official documents from the member states, popular presentations and scholarly literature, as well as information on the ratification processes.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. My oxymoron of the day is addressed to the European Council: Informed debate, without information?
Now Peadar ó Broin has informed me that the Annexes to the Treaties as well as the Protocols have been added to the Institute’s web site:
http://www.iiea.com/
The Treaties, Annexes and Protocols can be downloaded freely.
I thank Peadar ó Broin for his work and the IIEA for making it possible. They have made life easier for a lot of people.
***
We know that there is going to be a referendum in Ireland on the Treaty of Lisbon. The consolidations serve important domestic needs as a factual basis for public debate. But, at the same time the published consolidated versions offer needed reliable information to all European citizens and others who are able to use texts in English, especially those who have no consolidated version in their own language.
Dear Reader,
I look forward to further information from you on the Treaty of Lisbon: consolidated versions, official documents from the member states, popular presentations and scholarly literature, as well as information on the ratification processes.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. My oxymoron of the day is addressed to the European Council: Informed debate, without information?
Monday, 14 January 2008
Sack the spin doctor!
Someone must have given the European leaders bad advice on how to present the Treaty of Lisbon to the public.
The drafting technique is a deliberate choice. Therefore, I will quote one example of the amendments made by the Reform Treaty to the existing EU Treaty:
31)”Article 14 shall be amended as follows:
(a) in paragraph 1, the first two sentences shall be replaced by the following sentence: "Where the international situation requires operational action by the Union, the Council shall adopt the necessary decisions.";
(b) paragraph 2 shall become the second subparagraph of paragraph 1, and the other paragraphs shall be renumbered accordingly. In the first sentence, the words "to joint action," shall be replaced by "to such a decision," and the words "that action" shall be replaced by "that decision". The last sentence shall be deleted;
(c) in paragraph 3, renumbered 2, the words "Joint actions" shall be replaced by "Decisions referred to in paragraph 1";
(d) the current paragraph 4 shall be deleted and the remaining paragraphs shall be renumbered accordingly;
(e) in the first sentence of paragraph 5, renumbered 3, the words "pursuant to a joint action, information shall be provided in time to allow," shall be replaced by "pursuant to a decision as referred to in paragraph 1, information shall be provided by the Member State concerned in time to allow,";
(f) in the first sentence of paragraph 6, renumbered 4, the words "failing a Council decision," shall be replaced by "failing a review of the Council decision as referred to in paragraph 1," and the words "of the joint action" shall be replaced by "of that decision";
(g) in paragraph 7, renumbered 5, the words "joint action" in the first sentence shall be replaced by "decision as referred to in this Article" and in the second sentence by "decision referred to in paragraph 1".”
***
In spite of the fairly insignificant amendments, the drafting technique leads to time consuming comparison for anyone trying to fix the exact wording of the Article. Even after checks, mistakes are probable. Clear amendments could have been written once, centrally by the Council, instead of the unnecessary multiplication of work all around Europe caused by the reader-unfriendly drafting.
With even a token of regard for readers, Article 14 TEU and many others like it could have been written ‘in extenso’. The end result in Article 14 EUT, does not differ much from the present Article 14 TEU, but it looks a lot like the Constitutional Treaty. Surprised, anybody?
It is as if everyone interested in European affairs should be punished for wanting to read, understand or use the Reform Treaty.
***
The drafting technique would not have caused major problems, if the Council had published reader-friendly consolidated versions at the same time, in every official language of the EU. But the real disaster became clear by the Council’s deliberate refusal to produce timely consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty, the Union’s most important document in 2007 and 2008 and, perhaps, beyond that.
Has the presentational technique eliminated the phantasmagorical allegations against the contents of the Lisbon Treaty? Not as far as I know, but a lot of ordinary citizens have been alienated by the antics of the Council.
There is a lot more re-engaging to do, now.
If anybody wants a schoolbook example of how not to communicate with the public, it is here. I hope it finds extensive use in time for the needed replacements, namely:
Somebody’s spin doctor should be sacked!
Ralf Grahn
The drafting technique is a deliberate choice. Therefore, I will quote one example of the amendments made by the Reform Treaty to the existing EU Treaty:
31)”Article 14 shall be amended as follows:
(a) in paragraph 1, the first two sentences shall be replaced by the following sentence: "Where the international situation requires operational action by the Union, the Council shall adopt the necessary decisions.";
(b) paragraph 2 shall become the second subparagraph of paragraph 1, and the other paragraphs shall be renumbered accordingly. In the first sentence, the words "to joint action," shall be replaced by "to such a decision," and the words "that action" shall be replaced by "that decision". The last sentence shall be deleted;
(c) in paragraph 3, renumbered 2, the words "Joint actions" shall be replaced by "Decisions referred to in paragraph 1";
(d) the current paragraph 4 shall be deleted and the remaining paragraphs shall be renumbered accordingly;
(e) in the first sentence of paragraph 5, renumbered 3, the words "pursuant to a joint action, information shall be provided in time to allow," shall be replaced by "pursuant to a decision as referred to in paragraph 1, information shall be provided by the Member State concerned in time to allow,";
(f) in the first sentence of paragraph 6, renumbered 4, the words "failing a Council decision," shall be replaced by "failing a review of the Council decision as referred to in paragraph 1," and the words "of the joint action" shall be replaced by "of that decision";
(g) in paragraph 7, renumbered 5, the words "joint action" in the first sentence shall be replaced by "decision as referred to in this Article" and in the second sentence by "decision referred to in paragraph 1".”
***
In spite of the fairly insignificant amendments, the drafting technique leads to time consuming comparison for anyone trying to fix the exact wording of the Article. Even after checks, mistakes are probable. Clear amendments could have been written once, centrally by the Council, instead of the unnecessary multiplication of work all around Europe caused by the reader-unfriendly drafting.
With even a token of regard for readers, Article 14 TEU and many others like it could have been written ‘in extenso’. The end result in Article 14 EUT, does not differ much from the present Article 14 TEU, but it looks a lot like the Constitutional Treaty. Surprised, anybody?
It is as if everyone interested in European affairs should be punished for wanting to read, understand or use the Reform Treaty.
***
The drafting technique would not have caused major problems, if the Council had published reader-friendly consolidated versions at the same time, in every official language of the EU. But the real disaster became clear by the Council’s deliberate refusal to produce timely consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty, the Union’s most important document in 2007 and 2008 and, perhaps, beyond that.
Has the presentational technique eliminated the phantasmagorical allegations against the contents of the Lisbon Treaty? Not as far as I know, but a lot of ordinary citizens have been alienated by the antics of the Council.
There is a lot more re-engaging to do, now.
If anybody wants a schoolbook example of how not to communicate with the public, it is here. I hope it finds extensive use in time for the needed replacements, namely:
Somebody’s spin doctor should be sacked!
Ralf Grahn
Thursday, 10 January 2008
Books on the EU Treaty of Lisbon
In addition to reader-friendly consolidated versions of the EU Treaty of Lisbon, there is a demand for secondary literature.
TEPSA, the Trans European Policy Studies Association, has published a list, prepared by the team of Wolfgang Wessels at the University of Cologne, dated 18 December 2007: Overview of publications on the Lisbon Treaty
http://www.tepsa.be/Collection_Secondary_Resources_Lisbon_Treaty.doc
***
In addition, the following could be mentioned:
Andrew Duff’s True Guide to the Treaty of Lisbon (pdf); posted among others on the ALDE web site under Key Documents;
http://www.alde.eu/
Estudio Preliminar de José Martín y Pérex de Nanclares (pdf); posted on the Real Instituto Elcano web pages dedicated to the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon;
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/rielcano/FuturoEuropa/TratadodeLisboa2007
***
The first signs of traditional commentaries, books, on the Reform Treaty are appearing. The following information is from internet bookshops and publishers (not my own perusal of the contents):
Jean-Luc Sauron: Comprendre le Traité de Lisbonne : Texte consolidé intégrale des traités, explications et commentaires ; Gualino éditeur, 2007 ; 352 pages, € 19
Jacques Ziller : Il nuovo Trattato europeo ; Il Mulino, 2007 ; € 12
Klemens H. Fischer: Der Vertrag von Lissabon. Text und Kommentar zum Europäischen Reformvertrag; Nomos; to be published in January 2008; 550 pages, € 79
Marianne Dony: Après la réforme de Lisbonne. Les nouveaux traités européens ; Editions Université de Bruxelles ; to be published in January 2008 ; 342 pages, € 12
Carl-Otto Lenz & Klaus-Dieter Borchardt: Der Vertrag von Lissabon. Einführung, Vertragstexte (EUV und AEUV), Protokolle und Erklärungen; under preparation; Bundesanzeiger Verlag; about 400 pages, € 34.80
***
Dear Reader,
Do not hesitate to add information on forthcoming titles.
Gratefully,
Ralf Grahn
TEPSA, the Trans European Policy Studies Association, has published a list, prepared by the team of Wolfgang Wessels at the University of Cologne, dated 18 December 2007: Overview of publications on the Lisbon Treaty
http://www.tepsa.be/Collection_Secondary_Resources_Lisbon_Treaty.doc
***
In addition, the following could be mentioned:
Andrew Duff’s True Guide to the Treaty of Lisbon (pdf); posted among others on the ALDE web site under Key Documents;
http://www.alde.eu/
Estudio Preliminar de José Martín y Pérex de Nanclares (pdf); posted on the Real Instituto Elcano web pages dedicated to the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon;
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/rielcano/FuturoEuropa/TratadodeLisboa2007
***
The first signs of traditional commentaries, books, on the Reform Treaty are appearing. The following information is from internet bookshops and publishers (not my own perusal of the contents):
Jean-Luc Sauron: Comprendre le Traité de Lisbonne : Texte consolidé intégrale des traités, explications et commentaires ; Gualino éditeur, 2007 ; 352 pages, € 19
Jacques Ziller : Il nuovo Trattato europeo ; Il Mulino, 2007 ; € 12
Klemens H. Fischer: Der Vertrag von Lissabon. Text und Kommentar zum Europäischen Reformvertrag; Nomos; to be published in January 2008; 550 pages, € 79
Marianne Dony: Après la réforme de Lisbonne. Les nouveaux traités européens ; Editions Université de Bruxelles ; to be published in January 2008 ; 342 pages, € 12
Carl-Otto Lenz & Klaus-Dieter Borchardt: Der Vertrag von Lissabon. Einführung, Vertragstexte (EUV und AEUV), Protokolle und Erklärungen; under preparation; Bundesanzeiger Verlag; about 400 pages, € 34.80
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Dear Reader,
Do not hesitate to add information on forthcoming titles.
Gratefully,
Ralf Grahn
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