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Leaders of the 27-European Union (EU)
members prepare to have group photos taken in Lisbon, capital of Portugal,
Oct. 18, 2007. EU leaders reached an agreement on the landmark reform
treaty in the early hours of Oct. 19, which introduces sweeping changes to
the 27-nation bloc's institutions and seeks to simplify decision-making.
Leaders of the 27 EU members began an informal summit in Lisbon on Oct.
18, aiming at concluding negotiations on a new EU treaty designed to
replace the defunct EU constitution.
(Xinhua/Chen
Haitong)
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LISBON, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU)
leaders reached an agreement on the landmark reform treaty early Friday, laying
foundations to reform the 27-nation bloc.
"The Lisbon summit has achieved an agreement on a new
treaty for Europe's future," Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, whose
country holds the EU presidency, told reporters after marathon talks dragging
into midnight.
The so-called reform treaty will soon obtain its
formal name as Lisbon Treaty as EU leaders will officially sign it in Portuguese
capital Lisbon at their next summit scheduled for Dec. 13.
It is designed to replace the defunct Constitution
Treaty rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005, aiming to streamline the
EU's decision-making mechanism in face of a globalized world and an enlarged
bloc.
Describing the deal as a victory for Europe, Socrates
said the EU now managed to get out of an institutional crisis which lasted
around six years.
"We no longer have an institutional crisis. We are
going to be ready to tackle the challenges of the future," he said at a joint
press conference with European Commission President Jose Barroso.
Calling the treaty "a great achievement", Barroso
said, "I believe we have a treaty that will give us now the capacity to act."
Among other institutional changes, the reform treaty
installs anew foreign policy chief for the EU and a long-term president for the
European Council to replace the current six-month rotating presidency, but it
avoids any mentioning which may implicate a constitutional nature, such as EU
symbols -- the flag, the anthem and the motto.
It also introduces the double majority voting system
in decision-making, reduces the size of the executive European Commission, and
gives national parliaments more power.
The deal was possible after last-minute concessions
were made to some aggressive demanders, notably Poland and Italy.
Poland threatened to veto the treaty unless the
so-called "Ioannina" mechanism, which allows a minority group of states
disagreeing with a resolution to freeze it for a considerable period of time,
was written into the new treaty, claiming the double majority voting system
envisaged in the treaty would give bigger member states more leverage than
before.
The double majority voting system requires at least
55 percent of the number of member states representing 65 percent of the EU's
total population to make a decision at the Council of the EU, a decision-making
body composed of member states' ministers.
Under a compromised arrangement, though there will be
no Ioannina clause in the treaty, the European Council, composed of 27 EU
leaders, will adopt a declaration on the substance of the Ioannina mechanism,
making it legally binding. In addition, the declaration will be attached with a
protocol, which requires consensus in any change to the Ioannina mechanism.
Another Polish demand, a permanent advocate general
on the European Court of Justice, was also satisfied.
"Poland has got everything it asked for," said Polish
President Lech Kaczynski after the talks.
Italy disagreed with the plan to redistribute EU
parliamentary seats. According to the new rules, Rome's seats in the European
Parliament should be cut from 78 to 72 in 2009, the biggest decline among member
states.
In concession to Italy, the EU leaders finally agreed
to add one more seat to the parliament, increasing the limit to 751 from the
originally planned 750.
"The new extra member will be for Italy," Socrates
confirmed. This will bring Italy's seats to the same number with Britain and one
less than France.
Austria, which complained about a big influx of
German students in its medical schools, demanded certain limits on foreign
students who could be enrolled in its universities. This issue was also settled,
the Portuguese presidency said earlier.
After signed in December, the EU reform treaty will
be open for national ratification. It is expected to enter into force on Jan. 1,
2009 before the elections to the European Parliament in the same year.
Currently, an imminent test of the new treaty would
be the call in some countries for referendum. At the press conference, Socrates
shied away from saying whether his country will go to polls on the treaty.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in his debut
show at an EU summit as government leader, was facing tremendous pressure from
his countrymen to hold a referendum on the Reform Treaty, although Britain
negotiated complex opt-outs on police and judicial cooperation and from the
Charter of Fundamental Rights, which will be given legally binding force by the
treaty.
The late-night deal marked the end of the first-day
meeting of EU leaders, who opened a two-day informal summit here.
"Tomorrow, Friday, we will be beginning to discuss
the external dimension of the Lisbon Agenda. We will be discussing preparing
Europe for the future," Socrates said when it was actually already in the early
hours of Friday.
The Lisbon Agenda, set out by EU leaders also in
Lisbon in March 2000, was originally aimed at making the EU the most competitive
economy in the world and achieving full employment by 2010.
Its goals were later lowered to the achievement of
stronger, lasting growth and the creation of more and better jobs after the
previous ambition was proved too aggressive.
On the second day, Barroso was invited to give a
key-note presentation, helping structure discussions with focus on two specific
subjects, namely the recent financial turmoil and climate change, Socrates said
in its invitation letter to his counterparts ahead of the summit.
EU Reform Treaty: mission yet to be
accomplished
LISBON, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- After hours of negotiation,
European Union (EU) leaders reached agreement early Friday on the text of a
historic treaty which is expected to breathe new life into the increasingly
cumbersome and inefficient EU machine.
The treaty seeks to overhaul the 27-nation bloc's
institutional structure and simplifies its decision-making process. Thursday's
agreement put six years of debate to a close and ended two years of
constitutional crisis -- nothing short of a remarkable achievement for all the
EU leaders. Full story
