04-25-2008, 02:15 PM
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#38 (permalink)
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| Partisan Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Los Angeles Gender:  Posts: 10,711 Country:  Points: 34,689, Level: 100 | Level up: 0%, 0 Points needed | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Grace They worked there away around that. Treaty of Lisbon From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Treaty of Lisbon (also known as the Reform Treaty) is a treaty signed on 13 December 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal. It alters how the European Union (EU) works through a series of amendments to the Treaty on European Union (TEU, Maastricht) and the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC, Rome), the latter being renamed Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The two consolidated treaties would form the legal basis of the Union, and combined constitute most of the content of the rejected European Constitution.
The most prominent innovations of the Treaty of Lisbon are arguably the scrapping of the pillar system, reduced chances of stalemate in the EU Council through more qualified majority voting, a more powerful European Parliament through extended codecision with the EU Council, as well as new tools for more coherent policies, such as a long-term President of the European Council and a High Representative for Foreign Affairs. (see more below)
The Treaty of Lisbon is scheduled to be ratified in all Member States by the end of 2008, in time for the 2009 European elections. | Some people, including many right wing wacko evangelicals, talk of the European Constitution as some sinister conspiracy which will force EU members to comply with its edicts, and will eventually be replicated in North America, as a move toward a "one world government".
In fact, the EU Constitution “is said to be subsidiary to member states and can act only in those areas where "the objectives of the intended action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states but can rather... be better achieved at Union level."
The principle is established that the Union derives its powers from the member states.” BBC NEWS | Europe | What the EU constitution says
In other words, member states who ratify the EU Constitution are not surrendering any sovereignty. Furthermore, only 13 of 25 EU members have ratified the EU Constitution so far, primarily smaller countries that stand to benefit from consolidation. Doggone it darn right you betcha bless your heart maverick |