Please note: this observatory is no longer updated.
- New Consolidated version (TEU and TFEU) and inc Charter (January 2017)
- Consolidated versions of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (OJ, 400 pages, link)
- EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (pdf)
21 February 2011: EU: Confusion over new comitology rules coming into force on 1 March: Commission official Tenreiro conceded in parliamentary debate: " even Commission officials admit that comitology is difficult for citizens to get to grips with. "I must admit that for the general public the new rules are a step back for transparency"": See: EU lawyers struggle with new 'comitology' rules (euractiv, link). The Comitology committees will have to decide whether EU legislation is classified as a delegated act (Article 290 of the Lisbon Treaty) or implementing act (Article 291): a distinction "which is by no means clear at the moment." Tony Bunyan, Statewatch Director, comments:
"When the new comitology Regulation comes into force the Commission will be obliged to provide even less public information than it does at present. Citizens and civil society will not be able to track the procedure because there is no obligation to make the documents under discussion public - until the decision has been taken. Though MEPs have a say they will struggle to take on the additional task of scrutinising hundreds of measures going through every year. The new procedure represents a major step backwards for openness and accountability."
Background: New Comitology Procedures: Regulation laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers (pdf). Introduces two new comitology procedures: the "examination procedure" or "advisory procedure". See critique of Article 10 which severely limits the information to be publicly available: EU: Deepening the democratic deficit: the failure to “enshrine” the public’s right of access to documents (pdf) by Tony Bunyan: See also: Statewatch publication: Guide to EU decision-making and justice and home affairs after the Lisbon Treaty (pdf) by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, University of Essex, with additional material by Tony Bunyan.
5 November 2009: EU: LISBON TREATY: Full-text of the Lisbon Treaty (pdf) and justice and home affairs section: Title V (Articles 67- 89) (pdf) Analyses by Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex:
- Statewatch Analysis: The “Third Pillar acquis” after the Treaty of Lisbon enters into force (pdf)
- Statewatch Analysis: EU Lisbon Treaty Analysis no. 4: British and Irish opt-outs from EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) law (pdf)
- Analysis: Can the Treaty of Lisbon be denounced after it enters into force? (pdf)
See also: Preparatory work in view of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon (EU doc no: 14928/09, pdf), Presidency report to the European Council on the European External Action Service (pdf) and Proposed Council working groups if Lisbon Treaty is adopted (pdf), Preliminary draft amendments to the Council's Rules of Procedure (pdf) and: EU: COSI - Standing Committee on Internal Security rescued from the debris of the EU Constitution plus: Standing Committee on Internal Security: Presidency note on the state of work on the draft Council Decision on setting up the Standing Committee on operational cooperation on internal security (COSI) (pdf) and Analysis: Cementing the European state: - new emphasis on internal security and operational cooperation at EU level
Cementing the European state - new emphasis on internal security and operational cooperation at the EU level by Tony Bunyan
EU Reform Treaty: The rhetoric of transparency and public debate in the EU by Deirdre Curtin
10 November 2007: Analyses by Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex:
- Analysis no 1:3: JHA provisions
- Analysis no. 2.1: Revised text of the Treaty establishing the European Union (TEU) (except for the foreign policy provisions
- Analysis no. 2.2: Foreign policy provisions of the revised text of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU)
- Analysis no. 3.1: Revised text of Part One of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC)
- Analysis no. 3.2: Revised text of Part Two of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC)
- Analysis no. 3.3: Revised text of Part Three, Titles I to VI of the TEC: Internal Market and competition
- Analysis no. 3.4: Revised text of Part Three, Titles VII to XVII of the TEC: Other internal EC policies
- Analysis no. 3.5: Revised text of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) External relations provisions
- Analysis no. 3.6: Revised text of Part Five of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC): EU institutions
- Analysis no. 3.7: Revised text of Part Seven of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC): Final provisions
- Analysis no. 4: British and Irish opt-outs from EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) law
22 October: Comments on the final texts (below) by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, University of Essex.
19 October: The final texts agreed on 18 October are online at: Final texts of Reform Treaty
17 October: Note to the European Parliament on the "state of play" in the discussions (dated 17 October 2007, pdf) Note on: Reform Treaty: Debate in the European Parliament
12 October: Statewatch Analysis no 5: Analysis of the amended text of the draft Reform Treaty (pdf) by Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex:.
- it lists all of the differences between the Reform Treaty and the Constitutional Treaty, and concludes that it is not true, as the House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee claims, that the Reform Treaty is "substantially equivalent" to the Constitutional Treaty
- it lists all of the amendments to the draft Reform Treaty which were made by the October version of the text, compared to the July version
- it comments in detail on the most important changes in the October version of the text: the five-year delay to the Court of Justice's full jurisdiction over policing and criminal law, and the changes to the UK, Irish and Danish opt-outs over JHA matters
October: EU: UK House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee report on the "Reform Treaty": European Union Intergovernmental Conference
8 October 2007: The text to be finalised by the European Council on 18 October 2007 was finally published on 5 October 2007 - leaving less than two weeks for it to be read, comprehended and discussed and for civil society and parliaments to make their views known. Statewatch published the "almost final text" on 9 August 2007:
- CIG 1, Rev 1 - main text (pdf)
- CIG 2 Rev 1 - Protocols (pdf)
- CIG 4 Rev 1 - Declarations (pdf)
3 September 2007: Letter from the European Data Protection Supervisor, dated 23 July 2007 (CIG 9, pdf)
18 August 2007: Analysis no 4: British and Irish opt-outs from EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) prepared by Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex
9 August 2007: Statewatch analyses: The EU's draft Reform Treaty
The text of the EU's draft Reform Treaty released at the end of July and the EU Council Presidency is planning for it to be agreed in mid-October. The draft Reform Treaty would repeal or amend every single Article of the 62 Articles of the current Treaty on European Union (TEU) and would make 296 amendments to the 318 Articles of the current Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC). Taking account of the summer break this leaves very little time for civil society, national parliaments and the European Parliament to examine the draft text before it is agreed.
In order to further public understanding of and debate upon the draft Reform Treaty, eleven Statewatch analyses by Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex make the text of the draft Treaty comprehensible, by setting out the entire texts of the existing TEU and TEC and showing precisely how those texts would be amended by the draft Treaty.
Analysis no 1
- focusses on the issue of Justice and Home Affairs
Analysis no. 2 is the amended text of the TEU, and is divided into 2 parts:
- the non-foreign policy part of the Treaty (basic principles and key institutional rules of the EU) and
- the foreign policy part of that Treaty
Analysis no. 3 is the amended text of the TEC, and is divided into seven parts more or less following the structure of the Treaty:
- Part One of the Treaty on general provisions
- Part Two on non-discrimination and citizenship
- half of Part Three on the internal market and competition (except for the JHA clauses, which are the subject of analysis no. 1)
- the second half of Part Three, on other internal EU policies (such as social policy, monetary union and environment policy)
- Parts Four and Five, on the associated territories and external relations (including trade and development policy)
- Part Six, on the institutional rules (including the rules on the political institutions, the Court of Justice and the 'flexibility' rules)
- Part Seven, the final provisions
Analysis no. 4
Statewatch analysis: EU Reform Treaty Analysis no. 4: British and Irish opt-outs from EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)
31 July 2007: Texts now available in English:
- CIG 1: Draft Treaty amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community
- CIG 2: Protocols
- CIG 3: Draft declarations
- CIG 4: Draft Preamble
24 July 2007: EU-REFORM TREATY: TEU: Statewatch analysis: Reform Treaty Analysis no. 2.1: Revised text of the Treaty establishing the European Union (TEU) (except for the foreign policy provisions) - Annotated version (pdf) and Statewatch analysis: Reform Treaty Analysis no. 2.1: Revised text of the Treaty establishing the European Union (TEU) (except for the foreign policy provisions)- Clean version (pdf) Prepared by Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex.
23 July: TREATY JHA PROVISIONS: Annotated: Full-text of the justice and home affairs provisions in the revised TEC (pdf) Full-text - Clean version (pdf) Prepared by Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex. See Treaty proposals in full below
23 July: Treaty texts in French: Projet de traité modifiant le traité sur l'Union européenne et le traité instituant la Communauté européenne (CIG 1, 145 pages, pdf) Protocols (CIG 2, 69 pages, pdf) Projet de déclarations (CIG 3, 63 pages, pdf). 277 pages in all.
- EU Council Conclusions - "IGC mandate" turning the EU Constitution into a "Reform Treaty".
- Corrections to the IGC Conclusions
- Opinion of the Council Legal Service: Primacy of EC law The opinion says nothing of substance (ie whether primacy would apply to the CFSP)
- European Parliament: The Reform Treaty, le traité « modificatif » : ce qui va changer ? (French, pdf)
22 June: NEW: EU-CONSTITUTION-TREATY: Statewatch analysis: The proposed “Reform Treaty” for the European Union by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, University of Essex (pdf) Background document: First draft of "Treaty" proposals: full-text (pdf)
18 June 2007: EU CONSTITUTION-TREATY: The Council Presidency has released a general document on the proposed process of adopting a "Treaty" rather than a "Constitution": Pursuing the treaty reform process and EU doc no: 10837/07 (dated 14 June 2007). The relevant section of the Constitution covering justice and home affairs: JHA full-text (pdf)
16.12.04: The full-text of the EU Constiution has been published in the Official Journal today (C 310, link)
29.10.04: EU: Useful summary page on which EU countries will have referenda on the Constitution (from doc no: 13748/04). Nine states will have referenda, six have yet to decide and ten will definitely not: Constitution referendums (pdf).
EU-UK: Government publishes White Paper on the "Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe" (Cm 6309): White Paper (pdf) (16.9.04)
* 9.8.04: EU Constitution: The official finally numbered version of the EU Constitution plus final text of the declarations and of the protocols - please note that the unofficial renumbered version produced by Statewatch six weeks ago got the numbers correct. The final size of the Constitution is 852 pages:
* EU Constitution: Consolidated agreed texts prepared by by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, University of Essex:
a. New: 28.6.04: Renumbered text of the EU Constitution: Renumbered text of EU Constitution (pdf)
b. Consolidated agreed text: Part I (pdf)
c. Consolidated agreed text: Parts II and IV (pdf)
d. "Justice and Home Affairs": Constitution: JHA (pdf)
e. Judicial Provisions (pdf)
f. Summary of the the abolition/retention of vetoes under the Constitution: Vetoes summary (pdf)
1. The Council have now produced a full consolidated text: CIG 86 (pdf, 325 pages, 930k)
2. The Council has produced 88 pages of "Declarations" to be attached to the Constitution: CIG 86 ADD 2 (pdf)
3. New: 29.06.04: The Council has produced a full list of Protocols - another 351 pages - to be attached to the Constitution: CIG 86 ADD 1 (pdf). This makes the full Constitution 764 pages - a bit of summer reading.* EU Constitution: Consolidated agreed text on "Justice and Home Affairs" by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, University of Essex: Constitution: JHA (pdf)
* EU Constitution: Summary of the the abolition/retention of vetoes under the Constitution by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, University of Essex: Vetoes summary (pdf)
* Special Statewatch Report: Consolidated text of amendments to the EU Constitution agreed by the EU “Intergovernmental Conference": Consolidated text (76 pages, pdf) to be read with: The legally corrected base text (25.11.03) is: CIG 50 (pdf)
* Update 19.6.04: EU Constitution agreed by Summit: The three cited documents are: CIG 83 (pdf) CIG 84 (pdf) and CIG 85 (pdf). The latter is the agreed text, but cannot be understood without reading CIG 81(pdf) and CIG 82 (pdf)
The legally corrected base text (25.11.03) is: CIG 50 (pdf), add CIG 81(pdf) and CIG 85 (pdf) and you have the complete text of the EU Constitution
* Update 16.6.04: EU Constitution: Two new documents for the EU Summit: CIG 81 (pdf) and CIG 82 (pdf)
* Update: EU Constitution: New report (12.6.04) containing revised text including judicial cooperation in criminal matters, European Prosecutors' Office and the Charter on Fundamental Rights: CIG80 (pdf)
* EU Constitution: New report (10 June) containing revised text ahead of the General Affairs Council on Monday 14 June: CIG79 (pdf)
* 25.5.04: New IGC report on budget: CIG 78 (pdf)
* Update20.5.04: There is a new IGC paper, on the issue of Council voting and EP seats: CIG77 (dated 19 May, pdf)
* Update 14.5.04: The presidency has produced a series of revised texts "on which there seems to be a likelihood of broad consensus in the context of an overall agreement": CIG 76 dated 13 May 2004 (pdf). Outstanding texts to be discussed at the ministerial meeting on 17-18 May are in CIG 75 (also 13 May 2004).
* Update 1.5.04:
There is a revised list of proposed changes to the draft Constitution from the Presidency in: CIG 73 dated 29 April 2004. (Note: There are no changes to the JHA rules as compared to the last Italian proposal in December, but there is an interesting new suggestion of a Protocol concerning EU accession to the ECHR, around page 112).
* Report on the InterGovernmental Conference from the Irish Presidency to the EU Summit, 25-26 March 2004: CIG 70 (pdf)
* 11.12.03: IGC 2003: Inter Governmental Conference (12-13 December 2003): Presidency proposal: CIG60 (pdf) and
Detailed document: CIG60 ADD 1 CIG 60 ADD 2 (pdfs)
* Update 9.12.03:
Italian Presidency proposals on EU defence policy: CIG57 (pdf)
Position paper from four neutral countries (Austria, Finland, Sweden and Ireland): CIG 62 (pdf)
* Update 26.11.03: First Compromise Proposal: The Italian presidency has prepared this compromise proposal for the meeting of foreign ministers in Naples November, 28-29th 2003 - called the conclave. The document is divided into two parts:
* Explanation: CIG51 (pdf) and Full-text of "technical redraft of the Constitution": CIG50, dated 25.11.03
* European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights: Statement on EU Constitution
* (10 November 2003) The Commission's 300-page report on the protocols, prepared for the IGC: Full-text in French (Word file)
* Report from the UK House of Lords Select Committee on the European Union: Report (link)
* The Presidency of the Counci l of the Council European Union has produced an !indicative timetable" for the IGC: Timetable (pdf)
16.10.03: Proposed revision to the Constitution on the work of the Council: Council Presidency and Council formations (pdf) This is the first suggested amendment to the draft EU Constitution. It would revise the clause in the draft Constitution on the rotating Council Presidency and formations of the Council (which include the Justice and Home Affairs Council, consisting of JHA ministers from the Member States), and would also add a new Protocol to the Constitution on this subject. Rotating teams of 3 or 4 Member States would share the Council Presidency for 18 months or 2 years, in place of a single Member State for 6 months as at present, and would share the formations of the Council and its working parties and committees equally between themselves for that period. Further details would be set out in a decision to be taken later by the European Council (EU leaders).
* Documents put online from the meeting in Rome by the Presidency:
1. The Union Minister for Foreign Affairs: main points, 02/10/2003 : CIG 2/03
2. The Council Presidency, 02/10/2003: CIG 1/03
A unique series of annotated texts of the proposed EU Constitution have been prepared for Statewatch by Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex. Each of the text is annotated to compare the current Treaties, practice and case law to the proposed Constitution - and in the case of decision-making the present division of powers to those proposed (including new powers).
(These analyses are © Statewatch/Steve Peers and of course may be further used/linked to if proper acknowledgement is given)
The proposed EU Constitution is set out in CONV 850/03 (the detailed rules in Part III will supplement the basic rules in Part I):
Background note
The EU constitutional Convention was convened in February 2002 and met until July 2003 under the chairmanship of former French President Valery Giscard D'Estaing. It consisted of delegates from national parliaments, the European Parliament, the Commission and EU Member States' governments, including the parliaments and governments of states which have applied to join the EU. Following on from a declaration to the Treaty of Nice and a later declaration agreed by the European Council (summit meeting) in Laeken in December 2001, the Convention had the task of examining the current EU and EC Treaties and suggesting possible changes. It decided to draft an EU Constitution merging the current EU and EC Treaties, based on the existing texts but making a number of important changes.
However, the work of the Convention is not binding. A binding text to amend the existing Treaties will be drawn up by Member States' governements (including the governments of the 10 countries who have signed an Accession Treaty to join the EU in 2004), in an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC). This IGC is scheduled to begin in October 2003 and end at the latest in May or June 2004. At the last EU summit meeting (in Thessaloniki, June 2003), it was agreed that the draft Constitution produced by the Convention would be a "good starting point" for the negotiations in the IGC. If the IGC concludes as planned, the final Constitution will have to be approved by national parliaments and national referenda, and so would likley not enter into force until well into 2006.
Civil society critiques
a) The EU Constitution and Justice and Home Affairs: the accountability gap, by Steve Peers
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