The Lisbon Treaty: A Legal and Political Analysis

by Jean-Claude Piris , Foreword by Angela Merkel

• ISBN13: 9780521142342
• ISBN10: 0521142342
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-07-26
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Given the controversies and difficulties which preceded the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty, it is easy to forget that the Treaty is a complex legal document in need of detailed analysis for its impact to be fully understood. Jean-Claude Piris, the Director General of the Legal Service of the Council of the European Union, provides such an analysis, looking at the historical and political contexts of the Treaty, its impact on the democratic framework of the EU and its provisions in relation to substantive law. Impartial legal analysis of the EU's functions, its powers and the treaties which govern it make this the seminal text on the most significant recent development in EU law.

Table of Contents

List of boxes	p. xii
Foreword	p. xiv
Acknowledgements	p. xvi
Table of cases	p. xvii
List of abbreviations	p. xxi
Introduction	p. 1
The origins and birth of the Lisbon Treaty	p. 7
The process that led to the establishment of the European Union	p. 7
The 2002-2003 European Convention and the 2004 Constitutional Treaty and its failed ratification	p. 15
From the Constitutional Treaty to the Lisbon Treaty	p. 25
The difficult ratification of the Lisbon Treaty	p. 49
The structure of the Lisbon Treaty	p. 63
General provisions	p. 71
Values and objectives	p. 71
Delimitation and clarification of the EU competences	p. 74
Basic principles	p. 78
The legal personality of the EU	p. 86
Variable geometry	p. 89
Legislative and non-legislative procedures and Acts	p. 92
Procedures for the revision of the Treaties	p. 104
Withdrawal of a Member State from the EU	p. 109
Democracy	p. 112
The European Parliament	p. 114
The national parliaments	p. 122
The citizens' initiative and other possibilities for citizens to influence decisions of the EU	p. 133
The judgment of 30 June 2009 of the German Constitutional Court and the issue of the democratic legitimacy of the EU	p. 141
Fundamental Rights	p. 146
The origins of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights	p. 146
The Charter of Fundamental Rights are referred to in the Lisbon Treaty	p. 148
The Protocol on the application of the Charter to Poland and the United Kingdom	p. 160
The accession of the EU to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms	p. 163
Freedom, Security and Justice	p. 167
A short history of Justice and Home Affairs in the EU	p. 167
The abolition of the third pillar and the other changes made by the Lisbon Treaty	p. 177
Variable geometry in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice	p. 192
Institutions	p. 204
The European Council	p. 205
The Council	p. 209
The Commission	p. 225
The Court of Justice	p. 230
Changes to other institutions and bodies	p. 234
Relations between institutions and the interinstitutional balance	p. 235
External affairs	p. 238
External affairs before the Lisbon Treaty	p. 238
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy	p. 243
The European External Action Service	p. 249
The Common Foreign and Security Policy	p. 256
Security and Defence	p. 265
Other sectors of external affairs, including trade policy	p. 279
Financial, economic, social and other internal affairs	p. 288
The EU budget	p. 288
European monetary union and the euro zone	p. 301
The internal market and free competition	p. 307
Social policy	p. 309
Services of general interest	p. 313
Agriculture, energy, health and other internal affairs	p. 316
Conclusion: the Lisbon Treaty and beyond	p. 324
Appendixes
The judgment of 30 June 2009 of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany on the Lisbon Treaty	p. 341
The judgment of 26 November 2008 of the Czech Constitutional Court on the Lisbon Treaty	p. 359
List of provisions on a simplified revision procedure and of passerelles	p. 361
Existing legal bases switched to the ordinary legislative procedure (codecision)	p. 365
New legal bases	p. 369
List of Articles in the TEU and in the TFEU which enable the European Council to take decisions having legal effects	p. 379
Existing legal bases switched from unanimity to qualified majority voting	p. 383
Pre-existing legal bases where unanimity, common accord or consensus continues to apply	p. 386
References	p. 398
Index	p. 404
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