Abstract
Lisbon is a return to the community method: the word "Constitution" has disappeared along with the goal of drafting a self-sufficient document. A new treaty is proposed for ratification by Member States modifying on one side the Treaty on European Union ("TEU") and on the other side the Treaty establishing the European Community ("EC Treaty"); this last part of the modifying treaty is designated as the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ("TFEU"). Nothing has improved as regards clarity and simplification: the amendments cover 152 pages and prove very difficult to read in the absence of consolidation, not to mention the seventy-six pages of protocols and twenty-five pages of declarations. But, on the other hand, the method of amending existing treaties is well known, as it is no different from the Single European Act ("SEA"), Maastricht, Amsterdam, and Nice treaties. One may also observe that the "constitutional period" has not been entirely deprived of positive effects; it has had a certain pedagogical role. Some modifications, namely institutional, have become more easily acceptable because they have been explained so many times: for instance, the extension of the co-decision procedure and the institution of a more permanent presidency of the European Council.
Recommended Citation
Jacqueline Dutheil de la Rochère,
The Lisbon Compromise: A Synthesis Between Community Method and Union Acquis,
31 Fordham Int'l L.J. 1143
(2007).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ilj/vol31/iss5/4