Some Remarks on the Regulation of the Council, the European Council and the Commission in the Treaty of Lisbon.

Abstract

This study analyses the main changes introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon into the European Union’s institutional system, particularly within the Council, the European Council and the Commission. Once again, the new Treaty takes up almost all the reforms in this field introduced by the unsuccessful Constitutional Treaty. Thus, this is to be understood as the formal expression of the reforms conceived in the Convention on the future of Europe, and which were outlined in the 2004 Intergovernmental Conference. The new Treaty has not altered the legal nature of the above-mentioned institutions. The Commission still represents the general interest, while the Council and the European Council represent the interest of States. However, the inclusion of the European Council as a Union institution, and the new areas of competence it has taken on, entail a significant strengthening of the role of Member States. This fact may bring about some dysfunctions in the traditional balance between institutions, which is one of the keys of the success obtained by the institutional model since its creation in the fifties. The institutional reforms introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon are positive, and will help clarify the system and make it work better. All this, however, provided that no frictions or conflicts on areas of competence arise between the three poles of power now created (and represented by the President of the Commission, the President of the European Council and the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy), which will depend on good vibrations between them when they start to work at the same time.