The Treaty of Amsterdam, signed on 2 October 1997 by the fifteen member states, extended the European Parliament's codecision powers, brought the Schengen rules and much of asylum and immigration policy into the EU framework, and gave employment policy a place in the treaties.
- Official name
- Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts
- Signed
- 2 October 1997, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- In force
- 1 May 1999
- Signatories
- 15 states
The Maastricht Treaty itself provided for a review a few years after its entry into force. The Union also had to prepare for enlargement to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which would require institutions able to work with many more members. An intergovernmental conference opened in 1996 and ended with the Treaty of Amsterdam, signed on 2 October 1997 by the fifteen member states (Austria, Finland and Sweden had joined in 1995). It entered into force on 1 May 1999.
What it changed
- The European Parliament. The codecision procedure was extended to most existing legislative areas, making the Parliament and the Council co-legislators on a near-equal footing, with agriculture and competition policy as notable exceptions. The Parliament also gained the right to approve the nominee for President of the Commission. The number of MEPs was capped at 700.
- Freedom, security and justice. Asylum, immigration, external border controls and judicial cooperation in civil matters moved from intergovernmental cooperation to the Community method. The Schengen agreements, which abolished checks at internal borders between participating countries, were brought into the EU framework.
- Employment and social policy. A new chapter on employment created a mechanism to coordinate national employment policies, and the Social Policy Agreement, from which the United Kingdom had opted out at Maastricht, was incorporated into the treaty.
- Closer cooperation. For the first time, a group of member states could use the EU institutions to go further together in some areas, under strict conditions.
- Foreign policy. New instruments were created, including “common strategies” and a policy planning and early warning unit attached to the Council’s Secretary-General.
Example
Schengen is the clearest case. Before Amsterdam, the passport-free area rested on agreements signed outside the EU framework, starting in 1985. With the treaty’s entry into force in 1999, the Schengen rules became part of EU law, subject to EU institutions, with special arrangements for countries such as the United Kingdom and Ireland that stayed outside.
Debates and limits
Amsterdam did not settle the institutional questions raised by enlargement. The size of the Commission and the weighting of votes in the Council were left for later: a protocol required a full review of the institutions at least a year before the Union reached more than twenty members. Qualified majority voting was extended only to a few areas, and many policies still required unanimity. These “Amsterdam leftovers” led directly to the next negotiation and to the Treaty of Nice.