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The Lisbon Treaty has been ratified: more respect and power for the Regions and Cities of Europe
09.11.2009, 11:26
the entering into force of the Lisbon Treaty will improve the
standing of regions and cities in the European Union's political
system, and boost the role of their representative body in Brussels,
the Committee of the Regions (CoR).
After more than two decades of discussions on the EU's functioning and institutional set-up, the Lisbon Treaty intends to adapt the European Union to the challenges of the 21st century by making it more democratic, transparent and efficient. The Committee of the Regions has championed the new Treaty from the start, emphasising the substantial progress it makes with regard to Europe's local and regional authorities.
As CoR President Luc Van den Brande declared after the Irish "Yes" vote on the Treaty in October: "With the Lisbon Treaty, European legislation will be adopted more democratically in future, with a stronger Parliament and a Commission which listens to the people, is sensitive to the regional and local impact of European initiatives and is committed to respecting the subsidiarity principle. In addition, the Lisbon Treaty gives territorial cohesion, which is the cornerstone of future regional policy, a fundamental legal basis."
In summary, the Lisbon Treaty's main innovations regarding the role of Europe's regions and cities and the Committee of the Regions are:
- Recognition of the EU's territorial dimension
For the first time in its history, the European Union explicitly recognises "territorial cohesion" as a fundamental objective in addition to economic and social cohesion. For instance, Article 3 of the modified Treaty on European Union states that the EU "shall promote economic, social and territorial cohesion, and solidarity among Member States." This explicit recognition of the Union's territorial dimension is a huge step forward for the Committee's efforts to mainstream this concept in all EU policies.
- CoR obtains right to bring legal actions
The new Lisbon provisions also strengthen the institutional role of the Committee of the Regions by giving it the right to bring legal actions before the Court of Justice of the European Union in two distinct cases: Firstly, to protect the CoR's own institutional prerogatives, and secondly, to request the annulment of EU legislative acts that it considers being in breach of the principle of subsidiarity, i.e. the principle that decisions are taken as closely as possible to the citizen. This right is now enshrined in a new protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality:
"The Court of Justice of the European Union shall have jurisdiction in actions on grounds of infringement of the principle of subsidiarity by a legislative act (...).
In accordance with the rules laid down in the said Article, the Committee of the Regions may also bring such actions against legislative acts for the adoption of which the Treaty (...) provides that it be consulted."
- CoR consultation also by the European Parliament
The Lisbon Treaty also enables the Committee to be consulted by the European Parliament, not just by the Commission and the Council, where the EU Treaties so provide and in all other cases in which the EP considers it appropriate, in particular those which concern cross-border cooperation. Furthermore, with the new Treaty the CoR will have the right to be consulted by the three institutions on new policy areas, such as energy and climate change.
- CoR mandate period extended from four to five years
To bring the Committee's mandate period into line with that of the other EU institutions, especially the European Parliament and the Commission, the mandate period of CoR members is extended from four to five years. Accordingly, the term of office of the Committee's President and other high-level functions is extended from two to 2 ½ years.
- Important references to regional and local self-government
Another important change is that the local and regional right of self-government is now, for the first time ever, enshrined in an EU treaty, as Article 4(2) of the Treaty on European Union states: "The Union shall respect the equality of Member States before the Treaties as well as their national identities, inherent in their fundamental structures, political and constitutional, inclusive of regional and local self-government."
The Treaty also introduces several other new references to the regional and local level. For instance, Article 5(3) of the EU treaty now reads: "Under the principle of subsidiarity, in areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence, the Union shall act only if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, either at central level or at regional and local level, but can rather, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved at Union level."
- Regional parliaments with legislative powers
In the same sense, the Lisbon Treaty identifies regional parliaments with legislative powers as new actors in the EU decision making process: they will be involved in the so called "subsidiarity monitoring procedure". The protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality specifies that "Any national Parliament or any chamber of a national Parliament may, within eight weeks from the date of transmission of a draft legislative act, send to the Presidents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission a reasoned opinion stating why it considers that the draft in question does not comply with the principle of subsidiarity. It will be for each national Parliament or each chamber of a national Parliament to consult, where appropriate, regional parliaments with legislative powers."
New EU rulebook requires new internal rules for the CoR
The entering into force of the Lisbon Treaty also necessitates changes to the internal workings of the Committee, for instance by laying down the concrete procedures for implementing the CoR's new right to bring actions before the Court of Justice. Under the chairmanship of Karl-Heinz Lambertz (BE/PES), First Minister of the German-speaking Community in Belgium, a small task force of CoR members has debated the necessary modifications to the Committee's internal rules over the past year. Lambertz will present the findings of this ad-hoc commission at the CoR plenary session in December, which is then expected to adapt the CoR rulebook to the new Treaty.
For more information on the Lisbon Treaty, please consult the EUROPA website.
Source: www.cor.eu