European Union (EU) leaders reached an agreement on a landmark reform treaty early Friday, laying the foundation for reforming the 27-nation bloc.
The new treaty, in place of the defunct constitution treaty rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005, aims to streamline the EU's decision-making mechanism in face of a globalized world and an enlarged bloc.
Concessions were made to several countries after marathon talks, which dragged into early hours of Friday. The following are the main points of the treaty finally agreed on by all EU members.
Without constitutional or superstate suggestion
This was unchanged from what had been agreed on by EU leaders at their previous summit in June. The reform treaty drops the constitutional concept and the term "constitution" is abandoned.
There is no article mentioning the symbols of the EU such as the flag, the anthem or the motto, which may suggest a superstate nature for the EU. Even the denominations like "law" and "framework law" are also rejected.
It is no longer a single document replacing the complex and overlapping set of EU treaties, but an "amending treaty" to the previous ones, such as Maastricht and Nice treaties.
Voting mechanism
A double majority voting system is introduced to the Council of the EU, a decision-making body composed of member states' ministers, which means a decision needs approval from at least 55 percent of the number of member states representing 65 percent of EU's total population. Member states will cede the present veto powers.
More policy areas will be governed by the double majority voting system, notably in justice and home affairs, but subjects that are sensitive for national sovereignty, such as tax, social security, foreign policy and defense will continue to require unanimity.
Under a compromise, the reform treaty will allow Britain and Ireland to opt out of the judicial cooperation in criminal matters and police cooperation, but they can not prevent others from moving forward without them.
In order to overcome determined objection of Poland, the EU leaders reached a compromise deal in June, under which the voting scheme will apply as from 2014, with a three-year transition period until 2017. During the transition period, any country can invoke the old voting rules.
Poland's last-ditch demand for 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 to be planted into the treaty, was also satisfied in effect.
Under a compromised arrangement, though there will be no Ioannina clause in the treaty, the European Council 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.
Institution
The European Council, which comprises 27 leaders of member states, will have a new president, in place of the current six-month rotating presidency. The president will be elected by the EU leaders to serve a renewable term of two years and a half.
In an effort to improve efficiency, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, will be reduced in size, with the total number of its commissioners to be two-thirds of member states. Currently, each of the 27 member states appoints a member to the commission. Meanwhile, the role of the commission's president will be strengthened.
The number of the European Parliament members will be reduced from 785 to 751, instead of 750 as originally planned in the draft. The allocation of national seats will be based on each country's total population, and the extra seat is for Italy, which complained about losing the most seats under the original plan.
New EU foreign policy chief
A new post of EU foreign policy chief will be created in the treaty. The formal title is High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, instead of Foreign Minister of the EU as envisaged in the constitutional treaty, due to Britain's opposition.
The new foreign policy chief will take over the jobs from present foreign policy chief Javier Solana and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
The new chief, who is at the same time a Vice President of the European Commission, will chair meetings of the 27 EU foreign ministers and head a combined foreign service with both national and EU diplomats.
More saying for national parliaments
National parliaments will have more power to influence the EU decision-making, as demanded by the Netherlands.
The period given to national parliaments to examine draft legislative texts and to give a reasoned opinion will be extended from six to eight weeks.
If a draft legislative act is contested by at least one third of national legislatures as beyond the EU's competence, it will be sent back to the European Commission for re-examination.
Charter of Fundamental Rights
The reform treaty will make an EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights legally binding on all member states except Britain, who won an exemption to relieve its concern that the Charter may affect its labor laws.
Poland is also seeking an opt-out from the Charter for fear of conflicts with its laws on family and morality.
Get-out clause
The treaty introduces the possibility for a country to leave the EU under conditions to be negotiated with its partners.
Source: Xinhua
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