Treaty of Lisbon

johnnyskeleton

Does anybody have any information on the specific changes that will be made to the TEU by the treaty of Lisbon?

Most of the literature published give reasons (mostly political) to vote yes or no, but they don't seem to substantiate these reasons by reference to the text of the Treaty of Lisbon.

At the same time, the treaty itself is very long and cumbersome.

Among the issues are:

1) Increased powers of the European Parliament - what additional or increased powers will the parliament have under ToL?

2) Increased powers in Criminal Justice - are there any substantial changes here or is it just formalising what has already been decided?

3) Charter of Fundamental Rights - are there any divergences between this charter and the Irish Constitution or the ECHR? Furthermore, what is the practial upshot of the charter of rights?

4) Any other amendments - is the EU going to get any additional or amended powers, and is Ireland going to loose any significant level of its soverignty?

CantGetNoSleep

On point 2 - I only know that Ireland and the UK aren't participating in some of these sections

Point 4 - Would you not say that Ireland has already lost it's sovereignty? EC Law is supreme over Irish Law and Irish courts must follow decisions of the ECJ

I don't think any of this is changing, but importantly does the Treaty change the decision making process within the EU. Decisions are no longer to be made by unanimous decision, they will now be made by means of a qualified majority.
Therefore Ireland will lose it's right to veto in certain areas

besty

http://europa.eu/lisbon_treaty/glance/democracy/index_en.htm

That may be of some help to you johnnyskeleton.

johnnyskeleton

besty wrote: »

http://europa.eu/lisbon_treaty/glance/democracy/index_en.htm

That may be of some help to you johnnyskeleton.

Thanks besty, but the europa website tends to read like a political argument in favour of the treaty in general terms, rather than specific changes.

I know I'm being lazy, and the only real way to know what the exact changes are is to read the treaty, but if anyone is studying EU law and has gone through the ToL in some detail, it would be a great help.

myxi

Hi Johnny

I've a few handouts re the reform treaty if you pm me your email address I'll send them tomorrow from work.