Treaty of Lisbon

An international treaty, between the Member States of the European Union, that reforms EU laws and supplants the “Treaty of Nice”. It entered into force on 1 December 2009. It includes key portions of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe that France and the Netherlands rejected in 2005, via referendum. In the main, the Treaty of Lisbon brought changes in three areas: First, it strengthened democracy and protection of fundamental rights within the EU. It considerably increased the powers of the European Parliament, strengthened national parliaments’ rights of participation and gave EU citizens new rights of direct participation. Second, the Treaty streamlined the structures of European agreements by giving the Union a unified legal personality. Third, it enhanced the Union’s capacity to act, by introducing a so-called “double majority” system for decisions in the Council of the EU, by creating the office of President of the European Council and by establishing new competencies in several EU policy-making areas (including the area of research policy).

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