Understanding the Treaty of Lisbon

The entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon comes at a time of continuing lack of agreement about its significance thus justifying a new and less polarized assessment. The article looks at previous assessments, including those that see the Treaty as a major breakthrough for efficiency backed by a n...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Clive H. Church, David Phinnemore
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Institute of Romania 2010-06-01
Series:Romanian Journal of European Affairs
Subjects:
Online Access:https://rjea.ier.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/articole/RJEA_vol10_no2_Understanding_the_Treaty_of_Lisbon.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849425060947820544
author Clive H. Church
David Phinnemore
author_facet Clive H. Church
David Phinnemore
author_sort Clive H. Church
collection DOAJ
description The entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon comes at a time of continuing lack of agreement about its significance thus justifying a new and less polarized assessment. The article looks at previous assessments, including those that see the Treaty as a major breakthrough for efficiency backed by a new political dynamic and as the unnecessary and undemocratic imposition of a superstate and noxious policies. The article assesses the status, structure and style of the treaty and its contents, highlighting its provisions on values and rights, powers and policies, institutional changes, democratization and enhanced external activity. These, like assessments of the treaty, are often contradictory and point to the fact that Lisbon was yet another compromise document and not a master blueprint. Hence the resulting Union is likely to be a messy hybrid, being legalistic, lacking a single power centre, uncertainly democratic and enshrining more constructive ambiguity.
format Article
id doaj-art-c2ccf1a5e5084ef3ba9f8ba46450cbc8
institution Kabale University
issn 1582-8271
1841-4273
language English
publishDate 2010-06-01
publisher European Institute of Romania
record_format Article
series Romanian Journal of European Affairs
spelling doaj-art-c2ccf1a5e5084ef3ba9f8ba46450cbc82025-08-20T03:29:53ZengEuropean Institute of RomaniaRomanian Journal of European Affairs1582-82711841-42732010-06-01102529Understanding the Treaty of LisbonClive H. Church0David Phinnemore1Emeritus Professor of European Studies of the University of Kent, member of the University’s Centre for Swiss PoliticsSenior Lecturer in European Integration, School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy, Queen’s University BelfastThe entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon comes at a time of continuing lack of agreement about its significance thus justifying a new and less polarized assessment. The article looks at previous assessments, including those that see the Treaty as a major breakthrough for efficiency backed by a new political dynamic and as the unnecessary and undemocratic imposition of a superstate and noxious policies. The article assesses the status, structure and style of the treaty and its contents, highlighting its provisions on values and rights, powers and policies, institutional changes, democratization and enhanced external activity. These, like assessments of the treaty, are often contradictory and point to the fact that Lisbon was yet another compromise document and not a master blueprint. Hence the resulting Union is likely to be a messy hybrid, being legalistic, lacking a single power centre, uncertainly democratic and enshrining more constructive ambiguity.https://rjea.ier.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/articole/RJEA_vol10_no2_Understanding_the_Treaty_of_Lisbon.pdfeuropean unionlisbonreformtreaties
spellingShingle Clive H. Church
David Phinnemore
Understanding the Treaty of Lisbon
Romanian Journal of European Affairs
european union
lisbon
reform
treaties
title Understanding the Treaty of Lisbon
title_full Understanding the Treaty of Lisbon
title_fullStr Understanding the Treaty of Lisbon
title_full_unstemmed Understanding the Treaty of Lisbon
title_short Understanding the Treaty of Lisbon
title_sort understanding the treaty of lisbon
topic european union
lisbon
reform
treaties
url https://rjea.ier.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/articole/RJEA_vol10_no2_Understanding_the_Treaty_of_Lisbon.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT clivehchurch understandingthetreatyoflisbon
AT davidphinnemore understandingthetreatyoflisbon