EU agrees new ‘Lisbon Treaty’ (original) (raw)
The European Union has overnight agreed the precise text of its new ‘Lisbon Treaty’ to be formally signed off on 13 December in the Portuguese capital.
At around 02:00 local time on Friday morning – following shorter-than-usual discussions – Portuguese prime minister Jose Socrates announced that a deal has been struck, describing it as “victory for Europe”.
“With this agreement we have managed to get out of stalemate…we will be ready to tackle the world’s challenges”, Mr Socrates said.
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso also branded the accord as “historic”, providing the EU with the “capacity to act”.
The decision effectively ends a six-year long period of trying to internally reform.
The first bullet in this battle was fired in February 2002, when the European Convention headed by former French president Valery Giscard d’Estaing started drafting the EU Constitution.
This project, however, was buried when French and Dutch voters rejected the document in 2005 – something that resulted in a two-year long phase of soul searching.
To read this story, log in or subscribe
Enjoy access to all articles and 25 years of archives, comment and gift articles. Become a member for as low as €1,75 per week.
Already a member? Login