EU Lisbon Treaty: Ratification and consolidation in Finland

The government of Finland has communicated its intentions concerning the Treaty of Lisbon in two regards:

The ratification bill for the Lisbon Treaty is going to be sent to parliament in March.

The promised consolidated versions of the Lisbon Reform Treaty, in Finnish and Swedish, have now been given a more precise publishing date, by mid April.

***

Since Finland belonged to the two thirds majority of EU member states that approved the Constitutional Treaty, renewed parliamentary ratification of the ‘Constitution Light’ would not appear to cause serious problems.

The consolidated Finnish language version of the Lisbon Treaty is going to be a real addition, whereas there is a complete Swedish version available from Sieps, the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies,

www.sieps.se

and their new web pages on the Lisbon Treaty

http://www.lissabonfordraget.se/

As reported earlier, SNS Förlag in Sweden is going to publish a pocket version of the amending treaties.


Ralf Grahn



Here is the Finnish government’s press release in its entirety:



Government Communications Unit
22.2.2008 13.16
Preparations for the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty
Preparations for the implementation of the EU Treaty of Lisbon have begun during the Slovenian Presidency which started on 1 January 2008. Work will continue during the French Presidency during the latter half of 2008. The purpose is to prepare for the entry into force of the Treaty. Preparations concern issues with details that were left to be adopted at a later stage.
The EU Member States signed the Treaty of Lisbon which reforms the Union’s functioning in December 2007. The aim is to have the Treaty take effect as of the beginning of 2009.
In January, the Slovenian Presidency presented a work programme of the themes that need to be discussed before the entry into force of the Treaty. The work programme, which covers, for example, Justice and Home Affairs, institutional issues and issues concerning external relations and defence, will be discussed at the EU Ambassadors’ meetings during spring 2008. Discussions will cover, for example, the procedures and conditions to be applied to citizens’ initiatives, the transfer of the ongoing legislative proposals under the ordinary legislative procedure and the role of the permanent President of the European Council.
Finland is to submit a government proposal on the Lisbon Treaty to the Finnish Parliament in March 2008. Parliament will make a decision on the ratification of the Treaty.
A more reader-friendly, consolidated version is currently under compilation of the text of the Lisbon Treaty and of the ensuing changes to the basic treaties. The consolidated version will be a document integrating the articles of the various Treaties in one text. Finnish and Swedish versions are to be issued by mid-April.
The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty as of the beginning of 2009 requires that all Member States have ratified the Treaty by that date.

Further information: Arno Liukko, Counsellor, Government Secretariat for EU Affairs, tel. +358 9 1602 2190