Lisbon(Xinhua) : Heads of state of the European Union (EU) member states Thursday signed the Lisbon Treaty, which replaces the failed EU Constitution.
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was the first to put his name on the treaty.
In a speech prior to the signing ceremony, Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, whose country holds the EU presidency, said the treaty would take the European project one step further and make the EU stronger.
“This is not a treaty for the past. This is a treaty for the future, a treaty that will make Europe more modern, more efficient and more democratic,” he said.
Socrates said the treaty would also create conditions for the EU to have its voice heard in the world.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said, “From an old continent, a new Europe is born.”
With this treaty, the EU is preparing itself to serve its citizens better and address world issues, he said.
The Lisbon Treaty provides for far-reaching changes in the EU’s institutions and decision-making mechanisms.
It creates the post of a long-term president of the European Council, which comprises heads of state of the member states, in place of the current six-month rotation system.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, will be downsized, with the total number of commissioners reduced to 18 from the earlier 27.
The treaty removes national vetoes in around 50 policy areas and redristributes voting weights between member states.
The commission’s president will have more powers under the treaty.
A new post of the EU foreign policy chief will be created, which combines the duties of present foreign policy chief Javier Solana and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
To improve decision-making, a double majority voting system – approval by at least 55 percent of membership and at least 65 percent of the bloc’s total population – has been introduced to the Council of the EU, a decision-making body composed of ministers from member states.
Except for certain areas where unanimity is still required, policies would be decided through the double majority voting system, notably in justice and home affairs.
For the first time the treaty contains a clause to allow a member state to leave the union. It also creates a legal personality for the EU.