ON DECEMBER 13, 2007 MEMBER
NATIONS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION MET IN LISBON, PORTUGAL TO ESTABLISH A
NEW EU PRESIDENCY BY 2009 AND FURTHER UNITE THE EU.
EU leaders to sign up to new treaty
13.12.2007 - 08:12 CET | By Honor Mahony
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU leaders will fly to Lisbon today to sign up
to a new treaty for the European Union, a ceremony that has almost been
overshadowed by travel details and the British prime minister's agenda
clash.
The new set of rules for the European Union, some six years in the
making, will be signed off at a monastery in the Portuguese capital at
11.30 this morning, officially turning the document into the Treaty of
Lisbon.
Meanwhile, next year will see EU diplomats try and work out all the
sensitive political loose ends that have been left open in the treaty,
including the exact set-up for the planned diplomatic service.
"The treaty is, of course, not perfect," said European Commission
president Jose Manuel Barroso, ahead of the signature, with the new
rules spread out across a series of treaties, old and new, and
containing a hotpotch of opt-outs, protocols and declarations to keep
all national capitals happy.
Its most visible innovations include a permanent president of the EU,
an EU foreign minister, greater powers to the European Parliament and a
legally binding citizens rights charter.
In addition, it reduces the size of the European commission, allows for
easier decision-making by changing voting rules - both from 2014 - and
curbs the power of single member states to veto legislation.
The treaty is designed to make the EU more effective on the world stage
both by giving it a more coherent foreign policy and by allowing it to
take decisions quickly.
Today's ceremony also draws a line under what has been a difficult few
years for the EU which was plunged into crisis mid 2005 when two of its
founding member states rejected the original European constitution.
It took two years for the bloc to pick itself up and finally agree on
the Lisbon Treaty, which takes on most of the draft constitution's
innovations, but not its reader-friendly format.
Although some leaders are likely to hail the historic importance of the
occasion, the run-up to the ceremony has been dogged by more pragmatic
concerns.
Plane pooling, EU symbols and the British PM
Green groups have accused the EU of being blatantly hypocritical by
preaching about the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but
staging a short signing ceremony in Lisbon before all EU leaders fly
back again for their end of year summit in Brussels, beginning tomorrow.
Some EU politicians have since been at pains to stress their green credentials by plane pooling.
Mr Barroso is expected to share a plane with Portuguese prime minister
Socrates, both of whom will be flying from the European Parliament in
Strasbourg, while the leaders of Belgium, the Netherlands and
Luxembourg will arrive together as will the leaders of Sweden and
Denmark.
Meanwhile, British prime minister Gordon Brown – for whom the EU treaty
is a domestic political headache - has managed to create reams of
headlines for himself by first saying he would not attend the ceremony
due to an agenda clash and then saying he would attend it, but only
later.
This means that he is set to sign the treaty alone, about an hour and half after his EU counterparts.
Member states' disparate approach to the EU has also been highlighted
by an attempt by Germany to get the 27 to sign up to a declaration in
support of the EU symbols – the flag, anthem and motto – which were
dropped from the new treaty. Only 16 leaders are expected to sign this
declaration.
The signing the treaty immediately brings the next stage into sharp focus: ratification.
All member states have to ratify the treaty for it to come into force,
with several states, including France, aiming to have the process
completed early in 2008. Ireland is the only country likely to have a
referendum on the document, which is supposed to come into place by
early 2009.
