The Treaty of Lisbon: Council info and EU Publications

Council scroll story on the Treaty of Lisbon.

Find out more about the events and treaties which have shaped the roles of the European Council, the Council of the EU, the Eurogroup and the Euro Summit.

The General Affairs Council coordinates preparations for European Council meetings. It is responsible for a number of cross-cutting policy areas, which include EU enlargement and accession negotiations.

Find out more about the events and treaties which have shaped the roles of the European Council, the Council of the EU, the Eurogroup and the Euro Summit.

This webpage offers a concise summary of the Treaty of Lisbon and its history.

This is the full text of the Treaty of Lisbon.
Available in BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, GA, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV.

The European Parliament's database for monitoring the EU decision-making process.

Ten years after the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Council is seen by many as representing the centre of gravity of the EU's institutional framework. However, was this development purely the result of the changes to the Treaties made with Lisbon or did it happen naturally over time? This study analyses both the formal changes brought about by the Lisbon Treaty and the incremental evolution resulting from the institution's day-to-day practice, including the European Council's behaviour during the various crises of the last decade.

Assuming that the Treaty of Lisbon will be the framework for EU action for the foreseeable future, this paper explores possibilities for broadening the scope of EU action in order to respond to these repeated calls from EU citizens. With a view to reappraising the legal framework of the EU, it aims at identifying those legal bases in the Treaties that remain either under-used or completely unused.

No dia 13 de Dezembro de 2007 foi assinado, no Mosteiro dos Jerónimos , o Tratado de Lisboa. O acordo que a Presidência Portuguesa da União Europeia obteve, com a ajuda de todos os parceiros europeus, permitiu ultrapassar o impasse intitucional em que a União se encontrava há anos.

Passerelle clauses are a mechanism for introducing Treaty changes of a very specific nature. They modify the decision-making rules that affect acts of the Council, by allowing a shift from unanimity to qualified majority voting or from a special legislative procedure to
the ordinary legislative procedure. This study explores the differences between passerelle clauses and other flexibility measures and explores the main legal issues surrounding the introduction, revocation, and effects of passerelle clauses and their relationship with the other Treaty revision mechanisms

This study assesses the role of the European Parliament in the field of cohesion policy since the Treaty of Lisbon introduced ‘co-decision’ procedure whereby Parliament and Council have equal powers in agreeing the regulations of the EU Structural and Investment Funds. In addition to the formal processes, the study also considers the informal ones from policy development at the pre-legislative stage to the interinstitutional negotiations as well as the Parliament’s scrutiny role over cohesion policy.

The European Council and the Council of the EU are two key players in the EU’s decision-making process. Each has its own distinct role in the EU’s institutional architecture, even though politically and administratively a close organic relationship exists between both institutions. This booklet traces their origins and evolution through the EU treaties. It explores how they both played a decisive role in European integration and how their history reflects that of the EU as a whole: its policies and ambitions, its crises and progress.

This study assesses the implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon provisions on national parliaments as well as other related developments since 2009. The issues that are specifically investigated include the treaty provisions regarding national parliaments, Early Warning Mechanism, dialogue between national parliaments and the European Commission, the extending networks of inter-parliamentary cooperation, the parliamentary dimension of the budgetary and economic coordination and finally, the challenges raised by the on-going developments of the European legislative procedure.

The Treaty chapter on Economic and Monetary Union became after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty one of the most disputed chapters of the Treaties. The economic and financial crisis revealed the shortcomings of the asymmetric EMU. The present study assesses the unused potential of the existing Treaty chapter in order to improve the functioning of the EU. In order to do so, the study suggests to switch the perspective on the Treaty potential from competences to compliance.

Foreign Affairs as field of EU action has very distinctive constitutional qualities. Its external powers are broad, encompassing not only traditional foreign policy, but also development cooperation and number of sectorial policies such as trade, transport and environment. This revised and expanded report provides an analysis of the changes in the constitutional and institutional framework brought about by the Lisbon Treaty and assess the implementation of those changes including obstacles to further improvement of its implementation. This updated version takes another look on the matters of competence and mixed agreements as well on the role of the ECJ in foreign affairs.

Publication metadata
This Study examines the functioning of EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) cooperation in light of the reforms and innovations introduced by the Lisbon Treaty since the end of 2009. It identifies the main challenges and deficits characterising the practical and effective implementation of these transformations and suggests specific ways for the European Parliament to address them.

gainst any superficial impression of uniformity, the Treaty of Lisbon offers a significant number of mechanisms for flexibility (i.e. establishing different obligations and/or with different deadlines for accomplishment for different member states). External treaties complete the vast array for flexibility in European integration. Their full deployment depends on political opportunity and they may offer some opportunities to develop some policy areas. However, they are not panacea to face EU’s biggest challenges.

This Flash Eurobarometer tests how familiar citizens are with the Charter five years after its enactment as a legally binding document. The questions asked within this Flash Eurobarometer were already asked in 2012 (“Flash Eurobarometer 340”), making it possible to see whether familiarity with the Charter and understanding of the rights it enshrines has increased over the last three years.

The European Union has been equipped with its own bill of rights - the Charter of Fundamental Rights - since 2000. It became legally binding in 2009, and has the same legal value as the EU treaties. Those familiar with the main principles of EU law can usually quickly recite that the Charter is always binding on the EU, and binding on Member States whenever they are "implementing EU law". But the reality is that, even in expert circles, what does and does not fall within the Charter's field of application is not always well understood. This handbook aims to foster better understanding of the Charter, including when it applies in law and policymaking.

This brochure, which accompanies the poster "The Treaties of the European Union from Paris to Lisbon: 1951-2011", presents the history of European integration through the treaties, from the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community to the Treaty of Lisbon. The annex includes a timeline with details on each treaty.

A blog post celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Lisbon Treaty ratification.

This Website contains the text of the Charter of Fundamental Rights as well as information on the application of and need for the Charter.

Blog post with resources about the Treaty of Lisbon and its implications in the European Parliament.

Facts sheet on the Lisbon Treaty by the European Parliament.

MEPs celebrated the reforms that enhanced democracy and expanded people’s rights in the EU with Presidents Sassoli, Michel and von der Leyen.