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NEWS


TREATY OF NICE

In December 2000 the Member States of the European Union agreed the text of the Treaty of Nice, which is intended to prepare the way for the accession of new Member States during the coming years.

The main provisions of the Treaty are:

  • A change in the allocation of votes in the Council of Ministers, giving more weight to the larger Member States;

  • The provision of a double majority in the Council of Ministers, under which a Member State can insist on a measure being passed by a majority of countries which represent a specified percentage of the population of the Member States;

  • Extension of majority voting to additional cases;

  • Limitation of the size of the European Commission to a maximum of 27;

  • An "enhanced co-operation" procedure which allows a number of Member States to proceed to more rapid integration;

  • The possibility of action against a Member State when there is a serious risk of breach of the founding principles of the European Union.

The Church and Society Commission has made an evaluation of the Treaty and has identified the following points:

  • The extension of qualified majority voting is generally confined to relatively minor matters;

  • In a number of cases there are restrictions on qualified majority voting which will make decision-making more difficult, e.g. in the field of asylum policy, the Structural and Cohesion Funds, common commercial policy;

  • The new voting system is complex and shifts power towards the larger Member States;

  • There is an apparent shift towards an intergovernmental rather than a communitarian approach, with less influence for the European Parliament and the European Commission;

  • The new arrangements for the European Commission will probably be more effective;

  • While some of the measures designed to help the accession of new Member States go in the right direction, they are probably insufficient;

  • The new Treaty has not gone far enough to increase public awareness and understanding of the European Union and its purposes.

The European Union has decided that during 2001, the Swedish and Belgian Presidencies will be asked to start a process of "a deeper and wider debate about the future development of the Union", involving not only the EU institutions but also national Parliaments and civil society. The Church and Society Commission welcomes this debate and encourages the churches to participate in it. It has raised questions, however, as to whether a further Intergovernmental Conference is the best way of revising the EU treaties.

The full text of the Church and Society Commission's document Treaty of Nice - Description and Evaluation is available (in English only and in Word or WordPerfect formats) from the Church and Society Commission in Brussels csc.bru@cec-kek.be