After adopting the historic reform treaty for the European Union (EU) in the early hours on Friday, the bloc's leaders have entered their second day of informal talks focusing on the challenges facing the EU posed by globalization.
The EU leaders are expected to discuss the external dimensions of the so-called Lisbon Agenda, aimed at spurring the EU's economic growth and employment, and incorporating regional and international issues, including Kosovo, the Iranian nuclear issue and Middle East developments. They will also be preparing for next week's EU summit with Russia.
European Commissioner Jose Manuel Barroso has been invited to give a key-note presentation on Friday, helping structure discussions focusing on two specific subjects, namely the recent financial turmoil and climate change, according to the invitation letter by Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates to his counterparts ahead of the summit.
If everything goes to schedule, the two-day informal summit will be wrapped up Friday afternoon.
EU leaders on Friday adopted the landmark Treaty of Lisbon, ending a six-year institutional crisis for the 27-member bloc.
The new treaty will replace the defunct EU constitution, which was rejected by French and Dutch voters in referenda in 2005.
The new treaty will be signed on Dec. 13 in Lisbon by the EU leaders, and will be signed by the member states before it takes effect on Jan. 1, 2009.
The new treaty is designed to streamline the EU's decision-making mechanism in the face of a globalized world and an enlarged bloc.
At a press conference, Socrates, whose country holds the rotating six-month EU presidency, described the deal as "a victory for Europe."
Barroso called the treaty "a great achievement". "I believe we have a treaty that will now give us the capacity to act," he said.
Among other institutional changes, the reform treaty installs a new foreign policy chief for the EU and a longer-term president for the European Council to replace the current six-month rotating presidency, but it avoids any mention of what could suggest 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 would be cut from 78 to 72 in 2009, the biggest decline among member states.
The EU leaders finally agreed to add one more seat to Italy without breaching the 750-member cap by excluding the non-voting president of the parliament from the count.
Source: Xinhua
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