Analysis of Lisbon Treaty - Essay Example

Contents Introduction Treaty of Lisbon Treaty of Lisbon and Centralization of Power in EU 2 Future of International s 4 EU as a means of Promoting Unity in Europe 4 History of Lisbon Treaty 5 The opposing Viewpoint to Lisbon Treaty 6 Differentiation and Centralization in EU and Development of Common Constitution 6 End of Reflection Period 8 Futuristic Value of Lisbon Treaty and EU 8 Empowerment of EU and Global Citizenship 9 Findings 9 Conclusion 12 Analysis of Lisbon Treaty Introduction The international laws are formed in order to govern the state of affairs amongst nations of the world. The importance of international trade, travel and criminal laws grew astronomically because of overpowering trend of globalization in recent years. The international and global forums such as United Nations and European Union are primarily responsible for passing and implementing international laws in the member communities. The nations have undisputable strength to run the affairs of international institutions but once the laws and regulations are emplaced then, the countries do not have any option other than following the agreed upon legislation1. The globalization has impacted every aspect of human life in the modern era of the 21st century2 and no individual nation can survive out of the new world order no matter how hard they try. Treaty of Lisbon The Lisbon Treaty provided European Union with a new sense of spirit. The Treaty is no doubt considered as the basis of the forum3. The treaty is called Reform Treaty as well and what it did was significant because it modified the fundamentals of EU in order to make the entity more strong and gave it increased control over economic issues which are commonly faced by the member nations4. The Treaty has been signed by representatives of the member nations at 13th December, 2007 and the mutual agreement was enforced for the first time at 1st December, 20095. The newly formed Treaty modified the existing set of international agreements which are known as Treaties of Rome and Maastricht6. The former treaty was more important because it established the ways in which the forum was going to operate and the latter one conceptualized the idea of EU and provided a rough sketch of one of the most valuable international institutions of the present times7. The modifications are made in order to give Council of Ministers more power in terms of making strategic decisions about the future direction of the organization8. The need to have more powerful European Parliament was also emphasized. The policy making is still governed by rule of following majority’s opinion but the council reserve the right to nullify the decision, if it is not complimentary to the long term objectives of the institution. The Lisbon Treaty is an attempt to give EU more notable legal status. The EU is trying to transform into something more than an organization that has to work in an associative capacity with the local governments of the member nations. Treaty of Lisbon and Centralization of Power in EU The power of EU is becoming more and more centralized in the hands of Council of Ministers as it is now empowered to challenge and cancel the majority’s decision in order to uphold and serve EU’s goals. The EU has been blessed with the power of taking independent decisions under the document called Lisbon Treaty9. The Treaty also formulated Charter of Fundamental Rights that gave the institution with the strength to enter into a legal contract on its own10. The document also added the post of President of the European Council and the person occupying this position may have the authority to cancel the decision of the Council and therefore, his or her approval is necessary before passing of any new laws, policies and regulations. Additionally, the position of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy is formed as well. The position of High Representative is accountable for managing relationship of EU with the outside world within and outside of Europe11. The security concerns of both individual nations and entire EU will also be addressed by the office of the newly established position of the President. The Treaty of Lisbon has its roots in the previous Treaties of Amsterdam and Nice which are established in the years of 1997 and 2001 respectively12. Both of the abovementioned agreements attempted to legitimize the existence of the Union whereas, they also emphasized upon the need to improve on the organizational effort’s lucidity. The nations must work to attain EU’s goals and objectives rather than planning to achieve their own agendas. The soul of Lisbon Treaty lies within the need to empower the institution. Future of International Institutions The era of institutional dominance is nearing as the challenges faced by humanity are getting increasingly unmanageable for any individual nation regardless of its financial, political and military power13. The opposing forces of the amendment strongly held on to the point that stated that EU will become an organization with centralized chain of command14 but they are forgetting about the need to establish global citizenship all over the world which will only grow stronger in the days to come15. The role of international institutions will surely remain significant in terms of promoting the new way of life. Based on the above argument, it is the only logical course of action to enhance the power of international by passing new policies and legislation and that is exactly EU is doing right now. EU as a means of Promoting Unity in Europe The early development with regard to changing the operationality of EU began way back in the year of 200116. The first step in the right direction resulted in the creation of Treaty which formed the maiden Constitution of Europe. The document was being believed as the common constitution of all European countries that have the membership of the institution of course at that time17. The passing of common constitution triggered a chain of events that finally led the world to see more powerful EU eventually. The Dutch and French adamantly refused to succumb to the new European order as they were of the view that this measure will take away their national identity and pride. The dream of having a common constitution in Europe turned into dust but unexpectedly, it opened new and strange avenues for EU and the signing of Lisbon Treaty is considered as the opening of strange new ways for EU by political experts around the globe18. The European Union was fundamentally created in order to help European identity to stand against the trend of Americanization19. The step was unavoidable because American culture was already starting to engulf cultures of many nations. The past few years have witnessed that American work related culture is being accepted as a norm throughout the world. In the given situation, EU needs more leverage in order to do its job20. The European economic situation is chaotic to say the least and therefore, the institution needs enhanced authority to fight off cultural takeover. History of Lisbon Treaty The process of development of Lisbon Treaty occurred due to the induction of new member nations21 and therefore, the union needed more swift command and control system that was finally incorporated by the Treaty. The Treaty specifically influenced the decision making procedures. The authority was centralized under the Council of Ministers which superseded the judgment of the majority22. The structure and culture of the EU became more formal and rigid, according to some of the factions that considered passing of Lisbon Treaty as an action which will undermine the power of member nations23. The opposing Viewpoint to Lisbon Treaty The opposing forces added that the centralization of authority challenges the very nature of the Union because it was formed by the collective power of member nations and it is now absurd to empower the EU that should not have much power than that of an informal consortium of nations24. The supporters of the new structure beg to differ and present a counter argument that the EU may well present the futuristic nature of government. The globalization has already caused the national conflict to mitigate and therefore, the philosophy of nationalism which fueled many bloody conflicts in the human history will soon become an obsolete way of thinking25. The international institutions have the power to transform into management authorities in the world but they need more political power in order to do that. The Laeken Declaration on the other hand, played a significant and notable role in modifying the voting procedures of the Union and presented the idea of empowering European Union and creating Council of Ministers. The main purpose of the declaration was to allow the organization to grow in terms of efficiency, openness and cohesion of action. Differentiation and Centralization in EU and Development of Common Constitution The traditional powers of differentiation and centralization were at war in the previous version of European Union. The organization was plagued with differentiation due to individual national interests and therefore, had been unable to leave a significant mark on member nations’ lives. Nowadays, the value of EU in the world of future is becoming clearer and because of this reason, it is being empowered and strengthened as well26. Additionally, the Europe is trying to emerge as a unified force in front of the entire world27. The potential role of EU is more than valuable in this regard. The European constitution that was rejected by member nations but it went through considerable changes and the unenviable task of gathering support for the new document landed in the lap of former President of France Valery Giscard. The featured gentleman had to convince the members of EU to render support for the new operational framework of the consortium28. The notion of new constitution was met with skepticism but the refined draft of the constitution was passed in the summit in 2004 under the headship of Ireland. The new constitution gave way for the development of Lisbon Treaty. The new constitution was signed in a ceremony at Rome in October 200429. The changes in EU’s policies were needed to be approved by the member states and therefore, each country held referendums asking people about the approval or disapproval of the constitution. In response, the public of Netherlands and France did not approve the changes30. The disapproval from two major nations sent the document to the cold storage and the European political forces initiated to think about devising the ways of improving the constitution so that it can meet approval from the nations. The draft of common constitution gave a new direction to the Union31 because people commenced wondering about the basic nature of the institution and upon revisiting the events that led to the creation of EU, they became enlightened about the fact that the organization is formed in order to promote unity of purpose in the European region of the world32. The EU was much disorganized at that point in time and the supporters of unified Europe saw its potential of being a unifying force for the entire region. End of Reflection Period By the time when world entered the year of 2007, Germany was given the Presidency of EU and the head announced the end of reflection period and guided all member nations in the direction of adopting a common constitution by the midst of 200933. It is imperative for the readers to know that the common constitution of Europe governed the areas of law, finance and judiciary in the member states. Futuristic Value of Lisbon Treaty and EU The Treaty of Lisbon built upon the foundations of EU and carried the message of united Europe forward. The major attribute of Lisbon resided in its ability to give EU more political personality and power. The Lisbon Treaty is not fully implemented and still, European Union is operating as an informal consortium of member nations. The featured treaty is ill-applied due to the presence of partial nationalist interests. Empowerment of EU and Global Citizenship The nations are not willing to share the bread with others in the current times. However, it is only the matter of time before they will understand and comprehend the value of documents like the Treaty of Lisbon. The global nature of challenges will soon compel the humanity towards considering every country as equal34. The global citizenship will become a dominant way of thinking and the notion of nationalism will die out eventually. The challenges of global warming, unemployment and running out of oil will have the power to goad humans in the direction of adopting collective strategies in order to save their skin35. The time of humanity’s unification is near but it is not near enough36. The nations are not willing to submit to the power of EU and other institutions like it37 and whenever they do that then, it will be the initiation of an era that will feature unity of purpose at least in the Europe. Findings The international laws are formed in order to govern the state of affairs amongst nations of the world. The globalization has impacted every aspect of human life. The nations have undisputable strength to run the affairs of international institutions. The Lisbon Treaty provided European Union with a new sense of spirit. The Treaty is no doubt considered as the basis of the forum. The Treaty has been signed by representatives of the member nations at 13th December, 2007 and the mutual agreement was enforced for the first time at 1st December, 2009.The newly formed Treaty modified the existing set of international agreements which are known as Treaties of Rome and Maastricht. The modifications are made in order to give Council of Ministers more power in terms of making strategic decisions about the future direction of the organization. The EU is trying to transform into something more than an organization that has to work in an associative capacity with the local governments. The power of EU is becoming more and more centralized in the hands of Council of Ministers. The EU has been blessed with the power of taking independent decisions under the document called Lisbon Treaty. The Treaty also formulated Charter of Fundamental Rights that gave the institution with the strength to enter into a legal contract. The position of High Representative is accountable for managing relationship of EU with the outside world within and outside of Europe. The Treaty of Lisbon has its roots in the previous Treaties of Amsterdam and Nice which are established in the years of 1997 and 2001 respectively. The nations must work to attain EU’s goals and objectives rather than planning to achieve their own agendas The opposing forces of the amendment strongly held on to the point that stated that EU will become an organization with centralized chain of command. The early development in regard to changing the operationality of EU began way back in the year of 2001. The first step in the right direction resulted in the creation of Treaty which formed the maiden Constitution of Europe. The Dutch and French adamantly refused to succumb to the new European order as they were of the view that this measure will take away their national identity and pride. The European Union was fundamentally created in order to help European identity to stand against the trend of Americanization The past few years have witnessed that American work related culture is being accepted as a norm throughout the world. EU needs more leverage in order to do its job. The European economic situation is chaotic to say the least and therefore, the institution needs enhanced authority to fight off cultural takeover. The process of development of Lisbon Treaty occurred due to the induction of new member nations. The union needed more swift command and control system that was finally incorporated by the Treaty. The structure and culture of the EU became more formal and rigid. The opposing forces added that the centralization of authority challenges the very nature of the Union The supporters of the new structure beg to differ and present a counter argument that the EU may well present the futuristic nature of government. The international institutions have the power to transform into management authorities in the world but they need more political power in order to do that. The Laeken Declaration on the other hand, played a significant and notable role in modifying the voting procedures of the Union and presented the idea of empowering European Union and creating Council of Ministers. The organization was plagued with differentiation due to individual national interests and therefore, had been unable to leave a significant mark on member nations’ lives. Additionally, the Europe is trying to emerge as a unified force in front of the entire world. The unenviable task of gathering support for the new document landed in the lap of former President of France Valery Giscard. The new constitution gave way for the development of Lisbon Treaty. In response, the public of Netherlands and France did not approve the changes. The EU was much disorganized at that point in time and the supporters of unified Europe saw its potential of being a unifying force for the entire region. By the time when world entered the year of 2007, Germany was given the Presidency of EU and the head announced the end of reflection period. The Lisbon Treaty is not fully implemented and still, European Union is operating as an informal consortium of member nations. Conclusion The Lisbon Treaty was passed and partially implemented to give EU much needed power to take its own decisions in order to serve the purpose of greater good for the region. The EU became more centralized in terms of political power that is now residing with Council of Ministers whereas; the culture and structure of the organization got more formal after signing of Lisbon Treaty. References Richardson, J,. European Union: power and policy-making. (New York: Routledge, 2006). Pieterse, N. Globalization and culture: Global mélange. (London: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009). Piris, J. The Lisbon Treaty: a legal and political analysis. (Cambridge :Cambridge University Press, 2010). 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