The Treaty of Lisbon, signed on 13 December 2007 and in force since 1 December 2009, is the treaty under which the EU works today. It created a permanent President of the European Council, made the Charter of Fundamental Rights binding, extended majority voting and Parliament's powers, and added a withdrawal clause.
- Official name
- Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community
- Signed
- 13 December 2007, Lisbon, Portugal
- In force
- 1 December 2009
- Signatories
- 27 states
After French and Dutch voters rejected the Constitutional Treaty in 2005, EU leaders paused for a two-year “period of reflection”. In 2007, a new intergovernmental conference took up most of the Constitutional Treaty’s content, but in a different form: instead of replacing the existing treaties with a single constitution, it amended them. The 27 member states signed the Treaty of Lisbon on 13 December 2007. It entered into force on 1 December 2009, after ratification by all of them.
Since then, the EU has rested on two main treaties of equal value: the Treaty on European Union (TEU), which sets out its values, objectives and institutions, and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the renamed EEC Treaty, which details its policies.
What it changed
- Institutions. The European Council became a full institution with a permanent President, elected for two and a half years, renewable once. A High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy chairs the Foreign Affairs Council and is also a Vice-President of the Commission.
- Voting. In the Council, a qualified majority now means at least 55% of member states (15 of 27) representing at least 65% of the EU population.
- The European Parliament. The ordinary legislative procedure, in which the Parliament and the Council decide on an equal footing, was extended to 85 policy areas, up from 40.
- Rights. The Charter of Fundamental Rights became legally binding, with the same value as the treaties. It applies to member states only when they implement EU law.
- Citizens and national parliaments. At least one million citizens from at least seven member states can invite the Commission to propose a law (the European citizens’ initiative). National parliaments can object to draft laws they believe breach subsidiarity.
- Competences and legal status. The treaties now list which areas are exclusive EU competences, which are shared and which remain mainly national. The Union gained legal personality, allowing it to sign international agreements in its own name.
- Withdrawal. Article 50 TEU allows a member state to leave the Union, with a two-year negotiation period that can be extended.
Example
Article 50 was used for the first time by the United Kingdom, following its 2016 referendum. The country left the EU on 31 January 2020, the only member state to have done so.
Debates and limits
Ireland, where ratification required a constitutional referendum, first rejected the treaty on 12 June 2008. After EU leaders gave legal guarantees on neutrality, taxation and ethical issues, a second referendum on 2 October 2009 approved it.
Supporters argue that Lisbon made the enlarged Union more democratic and more efficient, by strengthening the Parliament and extending majority voting. Critics argue that it reproduced most of the rejected Constitutional Treaty while presenting it as a simple amending treaty. The treaties also contain “passerelle” clauses allowing further moves from unanimity to majority voting without a new treaty, but only by unanimous decision.