Consolidated EU Treaty of Lisbon

The consolidated Lisbon Treaty means that the amendments agreed by all the EU member states in December 2007 have been incorporated into the existing EU and EC Treaties.

We can read the amended treaties as they look, if the Lisbon Treaty enters into force.


Official Journal

The text is available in English and Gaelic as well as the other official EU languages on a number of web sites, following its publication on 9 May 2008 in the Official Journal of the European Union C 115.

Here is the English version of the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon, officially Consolidated versions of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.



You can access the desired language version by clicking on the abbreviation (above, right).

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EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union was published in the Official Journal on 14 December 2007 together with its explanations.



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General explanations

The Government of Ireland has published a 2009 White Paper on the Lisbon Treaty, which explains the changes between the existing treaties and the amending treaty (129 pages). The document can be downloaded as a whole or in parts.




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European Movement Ireland (EMI)

Mentioned in a blog post yesterday, the Lisbon fact sheets of the European Movement Ireland cover much of the same issues as the general information by the Government of Ireland, but they address questions and concerns separately under clearly visible headlines, making it easier to find the answer when you have a specific question in mind.



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Positive mood

The latest opinion polls tell us that the mood in Ireland ahead of the Lisbon 2009 referendum is more optimistic and confident. The information efforts may have contributed to this positive shift, but there is still time to catch up, if you are unsure.


Ralf Grahn

EU Council’s Rules of Procedure

After the blog posts on Article 207 TEC and Article 240 TFEU, as well as on Swedish openness and the Lisbon Treaty, Information about EU Council: Swedish Presidency and first aid and Free EU Council publications, we turn to more detailed provisions.

While we are waiting for the Swedish EU Council Presidency to publish proposals for the new Rules of Procedure of the Council and other decisions concerning the implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon, we look at the existing Council’s Rules of Procedure.


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Council’s Rules of Procedure

Detailed rules on the Council of the European Union are given in Council Decision 2006/683/EC, Euratom of 15 September 2006 adopting the Council's Rules of Procedure, originally published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 16.10.2006 L 285/47.



The latest consolidated version of the Council’s Rules of Procedure is of 1 January 2009.




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Contents

The headlines of the Articles and the Annexes offer a picture of the contents of the Council’s Rules of Procedure:



Article 1
Notice and venue of meetings

Article 2
Configurations of the Council, role of the General Affairs and External Relations Council and programming

Article 3
Agenda

Article 4
Representation of a Council member unable to attend

Article 5
Meetings

Article 6
Professional secrecy and production of documents in legal proceedings

Article 7
Cases where the Council acts in its legislative capacity

Article 8
Council deliberations open to the public and public debates

Article 9
Making public votes, explanations of votes and minutes

Article 10
Public access to Council documents

Article 11
Voting arrangements and quorum

Article 12
Ordinary written procedure and silence procedure

Article 13
Minutes

Article 14
Deliberations and decisions on the basis of documents and drafts drawn up in the languages provided for by the language rules in force

Article 15
Signing of acts

Article 16
Absence of the possibility to participate in the vote

Article 17
Publication of acts in the Official Journal

Article 18
Notification of acts

Article 19
Coreper, committees and working parties

Article 20
The Presidency and the businesslike conduct of discussions

Article 21
Reports from committees and working parties

Article 22
Quality of drafting

Article 23
The Secretary-General and the General Secretariat

Article 24
Security

Article 25
Duties as depositary of agreements and conventions

Article 26
Representation before the European Parliament

Article 27
Provisions concerning the form of acts

Article 28
Correspondence addressed to the Council


ANNEX I
LIST OF COUNCIL CONFIGURATIONS

ANNEX II
SPECIFIC PROVISIONS REGARDING PUBLIC ACCESS TO COUNCIL
DOCUMENTS

ANNEX III
DETAILED RULES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PROVISIONS
CONCERNING THE WEIGHTING OF VOTES IN THE COUNCIL

ANNEX IV
(1. In application of the following provisions of the Rules of Procedure and for
decisions in respect of which, under the Treaties, members of the Council or
of Coreper may not participate in the vote, account is not to be taken of votes
by such members:)

ANNEX V
WORKING METHODS FOR AN ENLARGED COUNCIL

ANNEX VI
PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE FORMS OF ACTS


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Next, we are going to turn to Coreper, then the General Secretariat and finally publications about the Council of the European Union.



Ralf Grahn

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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Yes, how about the official languages to start with?

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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

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.

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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

Consolidated EU Lisbon Treaty Update April 2008

In a short while consolidated versions of the EU’s Treaty of Lisbon are going to be published, with web publication 15 April 2008 followed by book versions 9 May 2008 (Europe day), presumably in 23 treaty languages.

The Council has made a wise decision by relinquishing its absurd and counter-productive opposition to readable treaties, but its marketing of this new-found openness could have been more vigorous and transparent.

The Commission 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

Margot Wallström, at least, highlighted the importance of readable, consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty, both the IIEA’s and the coming ‘official’ version, when she spoke to the Irish Institute of European Affairs in Brussels, 7 April 2008:

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/08/180&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

One small point where Wallström was a bit too selective, in my opinion, concerned the publication of consolidations:

The latest treaty to have entered into force is the Treaty of Nice, signed in 2001. Outside the Council web communications have advanced considerably since then.

And the draft Constitution and the Constitutional Treaty, which never entered into force, were quickly published (and they were already readable, ‘consolidated’ treaties).

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The Lisbon Treaty is arguably the most important European Union document since 2004

As a tribute to those individuals and organisations who have served the public by preparing and publishing consolidated versions in a considerable number of EU languages, I want to publish a list of the consolidations of the Lisbon Treaty I am aware of, often thanks to the help of kind readers.

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The languages are 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/


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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

I want to thank Anonymous who brought to our attention that the government of the Netherlands has published a complete Dutch version of the Treaty of Lisbon on the web pages of the Foreign Ministry,

www.minbuza.nl

The web pages offer us the TEU, TFEU, Euratom Treaty, the Protocols and the Final Act:

1. Verdrag betreffende de Europese Unie
2. Verdrag betreffende de werking van de Europese Unie (voorheen EG-Verdrag)
3. Verdrag tot oprichting van de Europese Gemeenschap voor Atoomenergie (Euratom)
4. Protocollen gehecht aan het Verdrag betreffende de Europese Unie, het Verdrag betreffende de werking van de Europese Unie en/of het Verdrag tot oprichting van de Europese Gemeenschap voor Atoomenergie
5. Slotakte bij het Verdrag van Lissabon, inclusief Verklaringen

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English

IIEA

Peadar ó Broin at the Institute of International and European Affairs (Dublin, Ireland) has produced a complete updated 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 an annotated 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. Informative, if you know what you are looking for.

Go to http://www.statewatch.org


FCO

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office published a complete 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


Constitreaty.com

The web site and accompanying blog at Constitreaty.com is an ongoing work to present the Constitutional Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty side by side for easy comparison, with highlighting and tracked changes facilitating the task.

When I checked a few moments ago, Parts I to III of the Constitution were available (with Part IV and the Final Act under construction). Try it out at:

http://www.constitreaty.com/


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Finnish

The government and Europe Information, of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, has promised a consolidated version of the Lisbon Reform Treaty, in Finnish and Swedish by mid April, which coincides with the publishing of all web versions by the Council.

I have not noticed if the Finnish government intends to do anything beyond the general Council plans.

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French

Europa-EU-Audience

The bilingual web site en.europa-eu-audience found two unofficial parallel versions, leaked from the European Parliament, of the amending treaties in French, side by side with the current ones:

http://europa-eu-audience.typepad.com/fr/files/EP_TCE_versus_TFU_Final.doc

http://europa-eu-audience.typepad.com/fr/files/EP_TUE_versus_TUE_final.doc

By the way, the site is worth following because of its keen interest on availability of EU sources and the evolution of web informatics.


Assemblée nationale

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


Later, the French National Assembly has presented a consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon side by side with the current treaties. Look for Assemblée Nationale: Rapport d’information déposé par la Délégation de l’Assemblée Nationale pour l’Union Européenne, sur le traité de Lisbonne ; No 562, Tome 2, 8 janvier 2008 :

http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/dossiers/traite_lisbonne_due_information.asp


Jean-Luc Sauron

Jean-Luc Sauron: Comprendre le Traité de Lisbonne – Texte consolidé intégral des traités – Explications et commentaires ; Gualino éditeur, Paris 2008 ; 351 p. (Prix 20 €)

The book (pages 141 – 351) contains, in a handy format, consolidated versions of the amended Treaty on European Union, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Explanations relating to it as well as a modest Index.

In principle, the Treaty texts are based on a version from 30 October 2007, but footnotes take later modifications into account.

Christine Kaddous and Fabrice Picod

Traité sur l’Union européenne / Traité sur le fonctionnement de l’Union européenneecueil de textes (Published 18 February 2008) Staempfli SA (Berne), Bruylant (Bruxelles), L.G.D.J. (Paris) 342 pages, CHF 59.-, 43 euros, ISBN 978-3-7272-9144-9

A complete consolidation in French.

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German

Markus Walther

Markus Walther: Das Primärrecht der Europäischen Union; Endfassung, Stand 18. Dezember 2007; (updated after signing)

http://www.mwalther.net/union.html


Klemens H. Fischer

The book “Der Vertrag von Lissabon – Text und Kommentar zum Europäischen Reformvertrag”, by Klemens H. Fischer (Nomos, Stämpfli Verlag and Verlag Österreich) describes the EU reform process and especially the IGC 2007 before it presents consolidated and annotated versions of the TEU and TFEU including protocols and declarations. The accompanying CD-Rom contains background material and three different consolidations of each treaty: with amendments highlighted and footnotes, with amendments highlighted and a neutral consolidated version.

Zukunft Europa

Just a short while ago Tünde commented on an old post that there is another German consolidated version of the Treaties on:

http://www.zukunfteuropa.at/site/5895/default.aspx

As far as I understand, Klemens H. Fischer has allowed Zukunft Europa to make his consolidation available to the public on the web.



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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).


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Irish Gaelic

A consolidation in Irish Gaelic has been announced by the Institute of International and European Affairs, Dublin (but I have not been able to locate it).

Go to http://www.iiea.com

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Portuguese

Peadar ó Broin reported on a version in Portuguese also, prepared by the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

http://www.eu2007.pt/NR/rdonlyres/1D96311C-F90D-4E97-B355-DFEA0DD1ABEA/0/TLconsolidado.pdf

Alternatively, you can link to the text via the website for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

http://www.mne.gov.pt/

Or you can link via the website for the Portuguese Presidency of 2007:

http://www.eu2007.pt/UE/vPT/Presidencia_Conselho/TratadoLisboa.htm


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Spanish

Real Instituto Elcano offers a complete updated consolidation, with protocols and declarations, in Spanish, compiled by José Martín y Pérez de Nanclares and Mariola Urrea Corres. The former has written an introductory study worth reading.

http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org


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Swedish

Sieps – Svenska institutet för europapolitiska studier, the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies, has published a complete consolidated Swedish language version of the Lisbon Treaty.

http://www.sieps.se

Go to the new Sieps web pages dedicated to the Lisbon Treaty:

http://www.lissabonfordraget.se/


Ladda ned Lissabonfördraget - Konsoliderad version av EU:s fördrag (pdf)
Ladda ned Lissabonfördraget – Protokoll mm (pdf)


The publisher SNS Förlag has published a handy pocket version of the Treaty of Lisbon in Swedish. Having received my own copy, I am happy to announce 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.


http://www.sns.se


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I am most grateful, if you want to share your knowledge about the Treaty of Lisbon as well as EU law and politics generally with me and other EU citizens: books and resources, such as official documents from the member states’ governments and parliaments, scholarly assessments and popular literature, plus information on the ratification processes.


Ralf Grahn

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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

Finland: EU Lisbon Treaty ratification bill

The government of Finland has approved the bill on ratification of the EU Treaty of Lisbon. Formally the bill is sent to the Parliament by the president tomorrow, 28 March 2008. The government’s press release recapitulates the main points of the Lisbon Treaty, and it misses only the latest of the six ratifying member states, Bulgaria.

Bearing in mind the Council’s reticence to publish consolidated versions of the amending treaty, the Finnish government’s press release confirms one interesting detail of general European interest, long awaited, namely that the Council is relenting, although the press release does not call it that.

It just states that a consolidated version of the treaties is expected to be finalised in April, in every official language of the European Union.

The press release was available in Finnish and Swedish a short while ago, but not (yet?) in English.


Ralf Grahn




Hallituksen esitys Lissabonin sopimuksen hyväksymisestä eduskunnan käsiteltäväksi; Tiedote 99/2008, Ulkoasiainministeriö, 27.3.2008 13:59;
Link in Finnish:

http://www.valtioneuvosto.fi/ajankohtaista/tiedotteet/tiedote/fi.jsp?oid=224386

Regeringens proposition om godkännande av Lissabonfördraget överlämnas till riksdagen; Pressmeddelande 99/2008, Utrikesministeriet, 27.3.2008 14:02;
Link in Swedish:

http://www.valtioneuvosto.fi/ajankohtaista/tiedotteet/tiedote/fi.jsp?oid=224388

Complete French Consolidated Lisbon Treaty

Every readable version of the EU’s Treaty of Lisbon gives cause for joy to students, teachers, practitioners and active citizens. Since my latest, 22 March 2008 post ‘EU: Consolidated Lisbon Treaty’ I have received publishers’ information about two developments (but I have not yet seen the books myself):


Swedish

It has been announced that the promised pocket version of the Treaty of Lisbon has been published by SNS Förlag.


French

I relay the following information to you, dear readers, about a complete consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty in French:

Traité sur l’Union européenne / Traité sur le fonctionnement de l’Union européenne

Christine Kaddous / Fabrice Picod

Recueil de textes, paru le 18 février 2008 Staempfli SA (Berne), Bruylant (Bruxelles), L.G.D.J. (Paris) 342 pages, CHF 59.-, 43 euros, ISBN 978-3-7272-9144-9

L’objectif de cet ouvrage est de procurer aux lecteurs un accès aisé aux nouveaux traités sur l’Union européenne et sur le fonctionnement de l’Union européenne, tels qu’ils résultent des modifications apportées par le traité de Lisbonne du 13 décembre 2007.

Il regroupe, dans une version consolidée :

le traité sur l’Union européenne,
le traité sur le fonctionnement de l’Union européenne,
deux tables de concordance,
les protocoles et déclarations,
la Charte des droits fondamentaux de l’Union européenne et les explications y relatives.

Une introduction présente les principaux apports du traité de Lisbonne.

Christine Kaddous, Professeur à l’Université de Genève, Chaire Jean Monnet, dirige le Centre d’études juridiques européennes

Fabrice Picod, Professeur à l’Université Panthéon- Assas (Paris II)

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I am grateful if you want to share your information on consolidations as well as official documents and secondary literature in different languages on the amending Lisbon Treaty.


Ralf Grahn

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

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.

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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

EU: Complete Dutch consolidated Lisbon Treaty

I want to thank Anonymous who brought to our attention that the government of the Netherlands has published a complete Dutch version of the Treaty of Lisbon on the web pages of the Foreign Ministry,

www.minbuza.nl

The web pages offer us the TEU, TFEU, Euratom Treaty, the Protocols and the Final Act:

1. Verdrag betreffende de Europese Unie

2. Verdrag betreffende de werking van de Europese Unie (voorheen EG-Verdrag)

3. Verdrag tot oprichting van de Europese Gemeenschap voor Atoomenergie (Euratom)

4. Protocollen gehecht aan het Verdrag betreffende de Europese Unie, het Verdrag betreffende de werking van de Europese Unie en/of het Verdrag tot oprichting van de Europese Gemeenschap voor Atoomenergie

5. Slotakte bij het Verdrag van Lissabon, inclusief Verklaringen

Earlier we reported on the private Dutch consolidation compiled by René Barents.

For this and the other consolidated language versions I am aware of, see the latest comprehensive update, the post Consolidated Lisbon Treaty Update (16 February 2008).

Additional information from you, dear readers, is eagerly awaited.


Ralf Grahn

Source:

Nederlands Ministerie van Buitenlands Zaken: Geactualiseerde versies van de Verdragen van de Europese Unie nu beschikbaar; 22 feb 2008;
http://www.minbuza.nl/verdragen/nl/Geconsolideerde_EU_en_EG_Verdragen

Consolidated Lisbon Treaty in Irish and Portuguese

I am happy to share with you the message I received from Peadar ó Broin, of the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA), in Dublin, Ireland, on two new language versions of the Treaty of Lisbon:

“Hi Ralf,

Just to let you know that the Irish Gaelic consolidated version of the Treaties will go up on the IIEA's website this Monday.

I noticed that there is now a version in Portuguese also, prepared by the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs: http://www.eu2007.pt/NR/rdonlyres/1D96311C-F90D-4E97-B355-DFEA0DD1ABEA/0/TLconsolidado.pdf

You can link to the text via the website for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: http://www.mne.gov.pt/ and via the website for the Portuguese Presidency of 2007: http://www.eu2007.pt/UE/vPT/Presidencia_Conselho/TratadoLisboa.htm

Thanks also for your daily illuminations on the Treaty of Lisbon. I noticed you got high praise from the folks who work on EU Law Blog - congrats!

Best regards,

Peadar”

***

For the Irish version and just to remind you: The IIEA has already published the complete Lisbon Treaty, the TEU, the TFEU and the Annexes as well as the Protocols, in English.

Go to http://www.iiea.com

If the number of languages with consolidated versions was seven or eight (Hungarian attested but not verified), we now know of 9 or 10 official EU languages covered out of 23.

Then there are a few alternative consolidations in French and German that I will try to include next time I update the list (last published 8 February 2008).

Are there more consolidated versions we should know about?


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.

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

EU Lisbon Treaty ratification: Denmark

The Danish Parliament, Folketinget, has started its work on the ratification of the EU Treaty of Lisbon. The government bill can be downloaded freely:

Forslag til lov om aendring af lov om Danmarks tiltraedelse af De Europaeiske Faelleskaber og Den Europaeiske Union (Danmarks ratifikation af Lissabon-traktaten)
Lovforslag nr. L 53; 9. januar 2008
http://www.ft.dk/doc.aspx?/Samling/20072/lovforslag/L53/index.htm

***

After the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon, the Danish consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty, mentioned in an earlier post, has been updated. For a free download, go to:

Folketinget: Sammenskrevet udgave af Lissabontraktaten, som undertegnet af EU’s stats- og regeringsledare den 13. december 2007, og det gaeldende traktatgrundlag;
http://www.euo.dk/upload/application/pdf/acc3e206/Lissabontraktaten.pdf

***

Folketingets EU-Oplysning, the Parliament’s EU Information Centre, offers information on the European Union in Danish, but some information is available in English, too:

http://www.eu-oplysningen.dk

***

The Reform Treaty is to be ratified by the Parliament of Denmark, but the government led by Anders Fogh Rasmussen is planning a referendum on the possible abolition of the Danish opt-outs from the EU Treaties.

Here is a part of the information on offer concerning Denmark’s opt-outs:

“Denmark has four so-called opt-outs from participation in EU policies.

As a result of the Danish no-vote to the Maastrich Treaty in 1992 the European Council adopted a declaration in Edinburg in December 1992 granting Denmark special status regarding EU cooperation. In order to meet the Danish concerns about the Maastricht Treaty Denmark was given four opt-outs from participation in EU policies:

Economic and Monetary Union: Denmark does not participate in the third phase of Economic and Monetary Union.

Common defence: Denmark does not participate in the elaboration and implementation of decisions and actions which have defence implications.

Justice and home affairs: Denmark only participates in EU judicial cooperation at an intergovernmental level.

Union citizenship: The Danish Opt-out on citizenship has been embodied in the Amsterdam Treaty, where it is stated, that union citizenship is a supplement to national citizenship and not a replacement.”



Ralf Grahn

EU Treaty of Lisbon: CFSP common approach

I would like to see European leaders who make me proud.

***

The EU member states consult, they reach a common approach, and then they coordinate their action. That is the purpose of the European Union, isn’t it? Then, why communicate like it was a state secret?

In my dictionary ‘fair play’ is described as ‘respect for the rules or equal treatment of all concerned’.

It was a serious miscalculation by the intergovernmental conference (the European Council) to decide that no consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty are to be published by any EU institution before the amending Treaties are ratified in every member state and have entered into force. It was and is depressing that the other EU institutions acquiesce in this conspiracy of silence, and that individual ministers and MEPs, as well as European political parties are keener to show solidarity to their peers than to the public. (If anybody is in doubt as to the essential correctness of my assertions, I refer to the lightly sanitized postings on my blogs since the middle of October. If push came to shove, I would have to present my documented evidence, if not able to claim journalistic anonymity for my sources.)

Has anybody presented a recorded decision? Has anybody stepped forward to take responsibility, or to present the reasons openly? Not to my knowledge. Having asked around, I have found that most of the people ‘in the know’ prefer not to answer. It seems to be a more convenient option than lying or telling the truth, but it goes against the grain of democratic interplay.

The end result of the intergovernmental conference is that we have an unreadable Reform Treaty, which makes a mockery of open communication and the notion of democratic fair play. The damage caused is deeper and more long-lasting than the inconvenience caused by foaming fanatics claiming that 50 year old treaty provisions are novelties smashing state sovereignty (as in Britain) or social protection (as in France) or whatever.

The lack of a readable text has done nothing to dampen the spirits on the fringes, where conscientious analysis is less than highly regarded and balanced presentation unknown, but it has meant serious inconvenience for those, who would like to base their opinion on facts (without pre-programmed filtering or spin by office holders and institutions).

The citizens who want to know the end result conveniently can go to one of the available consolidated language versions of the Treaty of Lisbon, like the updated TEU and TFEU published in English by the Institute of International and European Affairs (Dublin, Ireland):

http://www.iiea.com

They are of great service to the public.

***

My own quest is a little bit different. I try to wade through the Lisbon Treaty, one Article at a time, taking note of the similarities and differences between the existing Treaties, the draft Constitution, the signed Constitution and the amending Treaties. This I do as objectively as I can. In addition, I offer my personal comments on the (proposed) ‘state of the Union’, from an EU citizen’s point of view.

I imagine that my work could be of assistance to students of European affairs (politcs, law, economics) and to generalist teachers as well as to interested citizens who would want to take a deeper look at the background or consider subjective but independent views untrammelled by inbred hostility or self-congratulatory institutional loyalty.

As long as the EU institutions fail to publish consolidated, readable versions of the Treaty of Lisbon in every official language of the Union, I find it meaningful to decipher the Reform Treaty, as far as I am able, given the practical constraints. And it offers me an opportunity to repeat (ad nauseam) how our leaders have failed to live up to expectations formed by their professed ideals and principles. The mixture of ingredients like fact, irony, sarcasm and humour may vary from time to time, but the theme is constant: Publish or perish. (It goes for all sides.)

I welcome reasoned debate and I prefer real persons who use their own names.

***

I would like to see European leaders who make me proud, and who take care of our common interests, while playing by the rules of fair play.


***

What does the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2007) have in store for us today? We go to the following exercise in public relations by our governments, the Treaty of Lisbon (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/28-29) amending the Treaty on European Union (TEU).


"35) Article 16 shall be amended as follows:



(a) the words "inform and" shall be deleted, the words "within the Council" shall be replaced by "within the European Council and the Council" and the words "in order to ensure that the Union's influence is exerted as effectively as possible by means of concerted and convergent action" shall be replaced by "in order to determine a common approach";

(b) the following sentences shall be added after the first sentence: "Before undertaking any action on the international scene or entering into any commitment which could affect the Union's interests, each Member State shall consult the others within the European Council or the Council. Member States shall ensure, through the convergence of their actions, that the Union is able to assert its interests and values on the international scene. Member States shall show mutual solidarity.";

(c) the following two paragraphs shall be added:

"When the European Council or the Council has defined a common approach of the Union within the meaning of the first paragraph, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Member States shall coordinate their activities within the Council.

The diplomatic missions of the Member States and the Union delegations in third countries and at international organisations shall cooperate and shall contribute to formulating and implementing the common approach.”

***

Today’s exercise seems fairly straightforward. First, we turn to the existing Treaty on European Union, Article 16 TEU (latest consolidated version OJ 29.12.2006 C 321 E/6):

“Article 16

Member States shall inform and consult one another within the Council on any matter of foreign and security policy of general interest in order to ensure that the Union’s influence is exerted as effectively as possible by means of concerted and convergent action.”

***

Then, starts the fun part: reconstructing the democratic intention of our leaders:

Article 16

Member States shall consult one another within the European Council and the Council on any matter of foreign and security policy of general interest in order to determine a common approach. Before undertaking any action on the international scene or entering into any commitment which could affect the Union’s interests, each Member State shall consult the others within the European Council or the Council. Member States shall ensure, through the convergence of their actions, that the Union is able to assert its interests and values on the international scene. Member States shall show mutual solidarity.

When the European Council or the Council has defined a common approach of the Union within the meaning of the first paragraph, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Member States shall coordinate their activities within their activities within the Council.

The diplomatic missions of the Member States and the Union delegations in third countries and at international organisations shall cooperate and shall contribute to formulating and implementing the common approach.

***

The member states consult, they reach a common approach and then they coordinate their action. That is the purpose of the European Union, isn’t it? Then, why communicate like it was a state secret?

***

What does this consolidated Article remind us of? We turn to the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (OJ 18.7.2003 C 169/17) Article I-39 Specific provisions for implementing common foreign and security policy, or more exactly Article I-39(5):

“5. Member States shall consult one another within the European Council and the Council of Ministers on any foreign and security policy issue which is of general interest in order to determine a common approach. Before undertaking any action on the international scene or any commitment which could affect the Union’s interests, each Member State shall consult the others within the European Council or the Council of Ministers. Member States shall ensure, through the convergence of their actions, that the Union is able to assert its interests and values on the international scene. Member States shall show mutual solidarity.”

We then proceed to Article III-202 as proposed by the Convention:

“1. When the Union has defined a common approach within the meaning of Article I-39(5), the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Member States shall coordinate their activities within the Council of Ministers.

2. The diplomatic missions of the Member States and the delegations of the Union shall cooperate in third countries and in international organisations and shall contribute to formulating and implementing a common approach.”

***

In the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (OJ 16.12.2004 C 310) the first corresponding Article I-40 had a new, slightly altered headline: Specific provisions relating to the common foreign and security policy, and the ‘Council of Ministers’ had become the ‘Council’. Otherwise Article I-40(5) in the signed Treaty was the same as the corresponding provision drafted by the Convention.

Article III-301 of the Constitutional Treaty gave the wording a few touches, but in essence it took over the text proposed by the Convention in its Article III-202.

The Treaty of Lisbon, Article 16 TEU, merges the two corresponding Articles of the draft Constitution and the signed Constitutional Treaty without altering the substance.

***

This was today’s deciphering exercise. Slowly but surely we cover the ground the IGC 2007 would have us see only ‘through a glass, darkly’. (Thank you, Donna Leon.)


Ralf Grahn

Updated Lisbon Treaty in English

Yesterday evening I received a positive message from Peadar ó Broin, of the Institute of International and European Affairs (Dublin, Ireland): An updated consolidated English version of the Treaty of Lisbon has been posted on the web site of the Institute:

http://www.iiea.com

A Gaelic version will be posted, soon. That would bring the number of readable language versions to eight out of 23 official EU languages.

***

In addition, Peadar ó Broin’s message was heartening personally, too. I take the liberty to repeat it here:

“Dear Ralf,
Congratulations on your blog, a much needed information resource! Just to let you know that I have placed an updated edition of the Consolidated Treaties as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon on the website of the Institute of International and European Affairs ( www.iiea.com ). This is the English language edition; an edition in Irish Gaelic will be placed on the website shortly.
The Protocols, Charter and Declarations will also be available on the website in English, hopefully by tomorrow.
Good luck with your research and kind regards,
Peadar ó BROIN”

***
I think that the citizens of the European Union are entitled to readable versions of the Reform Treaty, each in his or her language.

For the convenience of those readers who daily arrive at my blog, while looking for a consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon, I am going to present a summary of my findings so far:


Danish

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/


English

Institute of International and European Affairs (Ireland) updated version
http://www.iiea.com
Statewatch (professor Steve Peers)
http://www.statewatch.org
Markus Walther
http://www.mwalther.net/europa/eulaw-lisbon-mwalther.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 have reported that the Hungarian government has published a consolidation of the Lisbon Treaty, although I have not been able to verify it.


Spanish

Real Instituto Elcano (updated after signing; note the introductory study)
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org


Swedish

Sieps – Svenska institutet för europapolitiska studier: Ladda ned Lissabonfördraget - Konsoliderad version av EU:s fördrag (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, popular or scholarly literature and information on the ratification processes.


Ralf Grahn

EU Treaty of Lisbon: CFSP decision making

Today, we look at one example of how the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2007) manifested its commitment to fair play and its adherence to the existing aims of the European Union to take the decisions “as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen” (Article 1 TEU).

We start with the end product of the IGC 2007, the Treaty of Lisbon (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306), to look at the next Article waiting to be consolidated, i.e. rendered readable:

“An Article 15b shall be inserted, with the text of Article 23, with the following amendments:

(a) in paragraph 1, the first subparagraph shall be replaced by the following: "Decisions under this Chapter shall be taken by the European Council and the Council acting unanimously, except where this Chapter provides otherwise. The adoption of legislative acts shall be excluded." and the last sentence in the second subparagraph shall be replaced by the following: "If the members of the Council qualifying their abstention in this way represent at least one third of the Member States comprising at least one third of the population of the Union, the decision shall not be adopted.";

(b) paragraph 2 shall be amended as follows:

(i) the first indent shall be replaced by the following two indents:

"– when adopting a decision defining a Union action or position on the basis of a decision of the European Council relating to the Union's strategic interests and objectives, as referred to in Article 10 B(1),

– when adopting a decision defining a Union action or position, on a proposal which the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy has presented following a specific request from the European Council, made on its own initiative or that of the High Representative,";

(ii) in the second indent, which shall become the third indent, the words "a joint action or a common position," shall be replaced by "a decision defining a Union action or position,";

(iii) in the second subparagraph, first sentence, the word "important" shall be replaced by "vital"; the last sentence shall be replaced by the following: "The High Representative will, in close consultation with the Member State involved, search for a solution acceptable to it. If he does not succeed, the Council may, acting by a qualified majority, request that the matter be referred to the European Council for a decision by unanimity.";

(iv) the third subparagraph shall be replaced by the following new paragraph 3, the last subparagraph shall become paragraph 4 and paragraph 3 shall be renumbered 5:

"3. The European Council may unanimously adopt a decision stipulating that the Council shall act by a qualified majority in cases other than those referred to in paragraph 2.";

(c) in the paragraph now numbered 4, the words "This paragraph shall not apply" shall be replaced by "Paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not apply".”


***

Next, we go to the existing Treaty on European Union (TEU) Article 23 (latest consolidated version OJ 29.12.2006 C 321 E):

“Article 23

1. Decisions under this title shall be taken by the Council acting unanimously. Abstentions by members present in person or represented shall not prevent the adoption of such decisions.

When abstaining in a vote, any member of the Council may qualify its abstention by making a formal declaration under the present subparagraph. In that case, it shall not be obliged to apply the decision, but shall accept that the decision commits the Union. In a spirit of mutual solidarity, the Member State concerned shall refrain from any action likely to conflict with or impede Union action based on that decision and the other Member States shall respect its position. If the members of the Council qualifying their abstention in this way represent more than one third of the votes weighted in accordance with Article 205(2) of the Treaty establishing the European Community, the decision shall not be adopted.

2. By derogation from the provisions of paragraph 1, the Council shall act by qualified majority:

- when adopting joint actions, common positions or taking any other decision on the basis of a common strategy,
- when adopting any decision implementing a joint action or a common position,
- when appointing a special representative in accordance with Article 18(5).

If a member of the Council declares that, for important and stated reasons of national policy, it intends to oppose the adoption of a decision to be taken by qualified majority, a vote shall not be taken. The Council may, acting by a qualified majority, request that the matter be referred to the European Council for decision by unanimity.

The votes of the members of the Council shall be weighted in accordance with Article 205(2) of the Treaty establishing the European Community. For their adoption, decisions shall require at least 232 votes in favour cast by at least two thirds of the members. When a decision is to be adopted by the Council by a qualified majority, a member of the Council may request verification that the Member States constituting the qualified majority represent at least 62% of the total population of the Union. If that condition is shown not to have been met, the decision in question shall not be adopted.

This paragraph shall not apply to decisions having military or defence implications.

3. For procedural questions, the Council shall act by a majority of its members.”

***

To arrive at the new, consolidated wording of Article 15b TEU, we insert the IGC 2007 amendments into the existing Article 23 TEU:

“Article 15b

1. Decisions under this Chapter shall be taken by the European Council and the Council acting unanimously, except where this Chapter provides otherwise. The adoption of legislative acts shall be excluded.

When abstaining in a vote, any member of the Council may qualify its abstention by making a formal declaration under the present subparagraph. In that case, it shall not be obliged to apply the decision, but shall accept that the decision commits the Union. In a spirit of mutual solidarity, the Member State concerned shall refrain from any action likely to conflict with or impede Union action based on that decision and the other Member States shall respect its position. If the members of the Council qualifying their abstention in this way represent at least one third of the Member States comprising at least one third of the population of the Union, the decision shall not be adopted.

2. By derogation from the provisions of paragraph 1, the Council shall act by qualified majority:

- when adopting a decision defining a Union action or position on the basis of a decision of the European Council relating to the Union’s strategic interests and objectives, as referred to in Article 10 B(1),
- when adopting a decision defining a Union action or position, on a proposal which the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy has presented following a specific request from the European Council, made on its own initiative or that of the High Representative,
- when adopting any decision implementing a decision defining a Union action or position,
- when appointing a special representative in accordance with Article 18(5).

If a member of the Council declares that, for vital and stated reasons of national policy, it intends to oppose the adoption of a decision to be taken by qualified majority, a vote shall not be taken. The High Representative will, in close consultation with the Member State involved, search for a solution acceptable to it. If he does not succeed, the Council may, acting by a qualified majority, request that the matter be referred to the European Council for decision by unanimity.

3. The European Council may unanimously adopt a decision stipulating that the Council shall act by a qualified majority in cases other than those referred to in paragraph 2.

4. Paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not apply to decisions having military or defence implications.

5. For procedural questions, the Council shall act by a majority of its members.”

***

The broadly based Convention was unable to reach a consensus on the general application of qualified majority voting (QMV) in questions pertaining to the common foreign and security policy (CFSP). See Article III-201 of the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (OJ 18.7.2003 C 169).

The text taken over by the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (OJ 16.12.2004 C 310) Article III-300 thus marked only limited progress towards more effective CFSP decision making by the EU.

In essence, the IGC 2007 took over the contents of the Constitutional Treaty; the modifications in Article 15b TEU are mainly technical.

Unanimity is still the norm in CFSP decision making, but follow-up decisions to unanimous decisions by the European Council offer some scope for more effective decision making by the Council, except in questions having military or defence implications.

***

Next time we look at information and consultation within the Council.


Ralf Grahn

EU Treaty of Lisbon: CFSP proposals

Mankind has always tried to find answers to the seemingly inexplicable mysteries of life. Was the Treaty of Lisbon, this masterpiece of readable legal drafting, a stroke of genius by the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2007), a combined answer to different challenges for the European Union? Perhaps

the Member States,

Recognising that the inner workings of the European Union need streamlining,

Desiring to engage its citizens,

Anxious that Europe has an ageing population,

Have decided to engage these ageing persons in stimulating puzzles and to this end have drafted the Treaty of Lisbon.

***

Having instilled a sense of meaning into the seemingly meaningless, we look forward to today’s small mental exercise, brought to us on line, courtesy of the Council.

We turn to the clues offered by the IGC 2007:

33) An Article 15a shall be inserted, with the text of Article 22, with the following amendments:


(a) in paragraph 1, the words "Any Member State or the Commission may refer to the Council any question relating to the common foreign and security policy" shall be replaced by "Any Member State, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, or the High Representative with the Commission's support, may refer any question relating to the common foreign and security policy to the Council" and the words "submit proposals to the Council" shall be replaced by "submit to it initiatives or proposals as appropriate";

(b) in paragraph 2, the words "the Presidency, of its own motion," shall be replaced by "the High Representative, of his own motion" and the words ", or at the request of the Commission or a Member State," shall be replaced by ", or at the request of a Member State,”

***

This should not be too hard. First we have to find the existing Treaty on European Union (TEU). We go straight to the latest consolidated version, published in the Official Journal 29.12.2006 C 321 E. Well, here we have the present

“Article 22

1. Any Member State of the Commission may refer to the Council any question relating to the common foreign and security policy and may submit proposals to the Council.
2. In cases requiring a rapid decision, the Presidency, of its own motion, or at the request of the Commission or a Member State, shall convene an extraordinary Council meeting within 48 hours or, in an emergency, within a shorter period.”

***

And now to the do-it-yourself part: At this beginner’s level of the game, we just have to delete and add according to the instructions given. After a few moments of happy tinkering, we brim with satisfaction and our brains feel activated and stimulated, having solved the puzzle of the amended and consolidated Article 15a TEU:

Article 15a

1. Any Member State, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, or the High Representative with the Commission’s support, may refer any question relating to the common foreign and security policy to the Council and may submit to it initiatives or proposals as appropriate.

2. In cases requiring a rapid decision, the High Representative, of his own motion, or at the request of a Member State, shall convene an extraordinary Council meeting within 48 hours or, in an emergency, within a shorter period.

***

We can now clearly see that initiatives and proposals can come from both a Member State and from the High Representative. Because the High Representative chairs the Foreign Affairs Council, he convenes the extraordinary meetings instead of the rotating Presidency.

***

For the sake of comparison, let us take a look at what the Convention proposed in the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (OJ 18.7.2003 C 169):

Article III-200

1. Any Member State, the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, or that Minister with the Commission’s support, may refer to the Council of Ministers any question relating to the common foreign and security policy and may submit proposals to it.

2. In cases requiring a rapid decision, the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, of the Minister’s own motion or at the request of a Member State, shall convene an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers within forty-eight hours or, in an emergency, within a shorter period.

***

The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, signed by all the Member States (OJ 16.12.2004 C 310), had the following wording in

Article III-299

1. Any Member State, the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, or that Minister with the Commission’s support, may refer any question relating to the common foreign and security policy to the Council and may submit to it initiatives or proposals as appropriate.

2. In cases requiring a rapid decision, the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, of the Minister’s own motion or at the request of a Member State, shall convene an extraordinary meeting of the Council within forty-eight hours or, in an emergency, within a shorter period.

***

As we see, the Constitutional Treaty changed the word order and the ‘Council of Ministers’ became the ‘Council’. The novelty was ‘initiatives or proposals’ instead of ‘proposals’.

***

We can draw the conclusion that the IGC 2007 has fulfilled its mandate (point 1) to “introduce into the existing Treaties, which remain in force, the innovations resulting from the 2004 IGC, as set out below in a detailed fashion”. One of the details (point 3) was that the “Union Minister for Foreign Affairs” will be called High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (Council document 11218/07).

With a negligible amount of deciphering, this has proven to be the case in Article 15a TEU.

***

‘Initiatives’ may mean that less than fully evolved proposals are allowed.

Crisis situations may lead to extraordinary Council meetings, which take rapid decisions.

***

I pray for the (European) Council to find the humility and wisdom to reconsider, and to publish a consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon, in every official language of the EU.


Ralf Grahn