Treaties of the European Union
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The Treaties of the European Union are a set of international treaties between the Union's member states which sets out the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). They establish the various EU institutions, their procedures and the EU's objectives.
The Treaty establishing the European Community (Rome Treaty, effective since 1958) and the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht Treaty, effective since 1993) combined constitute the EU's legal basis. These are known as the founding treaties. They have been altered several times since their inception by amending treaties. Each time a new country accedes to the EU, an accession treaty altering the list of signatories within the founding treaties is required to enter force. Accession treaties can also alter other parts of the founding treaties. There is also a number of amending treaties with the sole purpose of reform.
Contents |
[edit] Ratified treaties
1948 Brussels |
1951/52 Paris |
1957/58 Rome |
1965/67 Brussels |
1986/87 SEA |
1992/93 Maastricht (founded EU) |
1997/99 Amsterdam |
2001/03 Nice |
2007/09 Lisbon |
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European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) | |||||||||
European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) | European Union (EU) | ||||||||
European Economic Community (EEC) | → P I L L A R S → |
European Community (EC) | |||||||
↑European Communities↑ | Justice & Home Affairs (JHA) | ||||||||
Police & Judicial co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC) | |||||||||
European Political Cooperation (EPC) | Common Foreign & Security Policy (CFSP) | ||||||||
Western European Union (WEU) | |||||||||
Legend for below table: [Founding] - [Amending] - [Membership]
Treaty | Established/Amended | Signed in | Signed on | Effective from | Ceased |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ECSC Treaty | European Coal and Steel Community | Paris, FR | 18 April 1951 | 23 July 1952 | 23 July 2002[1] |
Euratom Treaty | European Atomic Energy Community | Rome, IT | 25 March 1957 | 1 January 1958 | in force |
EEC Treaty | European Economic Community | Rome, IT | 25 March 1957 | 1 January 1958 | in force |
Merger Treaty |
Amended Previous
Executives of ECSC and EAEC
combined with those of the EEC. |
Brussels, BE | 8 April 1965 | 1 July 1967 | 1 May 1999[2] |
First Budgetary Treaty |
Amended Previous
Partial budgetary powers to Parliament
|
Luxembourg, LU | 22 April 1970 | 1 January 1971 | in force |
Acts of Accession |
Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom
|
Brussels, BE | 22 January 1972 | 1 January 1973 | in force |
Second Budgetary Treaty |
Amended Previous
Greater budgetary powers to Parliament
Established the Court of Auditors (see article for all changes). |
Brussels, BE | 22 July 1975 | 1 June 1977 | in force |
Act of Accession | Enlarged to Greece | Athens, GR | 28 May 1979 | 1 January 1981 | in force |
Greenland Treaty[3] | Secession of Greenland | Brussels, BE | 13 March 1984 | 1 January 1985 | in force |
Acts of Accession | Enlarged to Spain and Portugal | Madrid, ES Lisbon, PT |
12 June 1985 | 1 January 1986 | in force |
Single European Act |
Amended Previous
Introduced the Single Market
and European Political Cooperation |
Luxembourg, LU The Hague, NL |
17 February 1986 28 February 1986 |
1 July 1987 | in force |
Treaty on European Union | European Union
Amended Previous
|
Maastricht, NL | 7 February 1992 | 1 November 1993 | in force |
Acts of Accession |
Enlarged to
Austria, Finland and Sweden
|
Corfu, GR | 24 June 1994 | 1 January 1995 | in force |
Treaty of Amsterdam |
Amended Previous
Introduced the High Representative,
transferred powers from JHA pillar to EC and integrated the Schengen Agreement (see article for all changes). |
Amsterdam, NL | 1 October 1997 | 1 May 1999 | in force |
Treaty of Nice |
Amended Previous
Prepared the EU to cope with enlargement
(see article for all changes). |
Nice, FR | 26 February 2001 | 1 February 2003 | in force |
Treaty of Accession 2003 | Athens, GR | 16 April 2003 | 1 May 2004 | in force | |
Treaty of Accession 2005 | Enlarged to Bulgaria and Romania | Luxembourg, LU | 13 April 2005 | 1 January 2007 | in force |
[edit] Unratified treaties
- Treaty instituting a European Defence Community.
Following on from the success of the Treaty of Paris, efforts were made to allow West Germany to rearm within the framework of a European military structure in the form of a European Defence Community. The treaty was signed by the six members on 27 May 1952 and the Common Assembly began drafting a treaty for a European Political Community to ensure democratic accountability of the new army, but this treaty was abandoned when the Defence Community treaty was rejected by the French National Assembly on 30 August 1954.
- 1973 and 1995 Acts of Accession of Norway
Norway has tried to join the European Communities/Union on two occasions, on both occasions a national referendum returned a negative result leading Norway to turn down membership. The first treaty was signed in Brussels on 22 January 1972 and the second in Corfu on 24 June 1994.
- Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (the European Constitution)
The European Constitution was a treaty that would have repealed and consolidated all previous overlapping treaties (except the Euratom treaty) into a single document. It also made changes to voting systems, simplified the structure of the EU and advanced co-operation in foreign policy. The treaty was signed in Rome on 29 October 2004 and was due to come into force on 1 November 2006 if it was ratified by all member states. However, this did not occur, with France rejecting the document in a national referendum on 29 May 2005 and then the Netherlands in their own referendum on 1 June 2005. Following a "period of reflection", the constitution in that form was scrapped and replaced by the Treaty of Lisbon.
[edit] Ratified treaties not yet in force
The Lisbon Treaty was agreed on 19 October 2007 and carried over most of the amendments made by the Constitution in the form of an amending treaty. It was signed on 13 December 2007 in Lisbon with the aim of it being ratified in time for it to come into force in 2009. On this occasion, Ireland was the only state to hold a referendum which resulted in a 53% vote against. A second Irish referendum in October 2009 allowed ratification, and as of 13 November 2009, all 27 member states had completed ratification and deposited the instruments of ratification in Rome. According to the terms of the treaty, it will thus come into force on 1 December 2009.
[edit] References
- ^ Expired due to 50 year limit included in Treaty, absorbed by EU via Treaty of Nice.
- ^ Replaced by Amsterdam Treaty
- ^ OJ L 29, 1.2.1985
[edit] See also
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- Law of the European Union
- History of the European Union
- Berlin Declaration (2007)
- Solemn Declaration on European Union
- Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
[edit] External links
Wikisource has several original texts related to: Treaties and declarations of the European Union |
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