EU Treaty Milestones: Amsterdam, Nice, Constitutional Draft, Lisbon

EU Treaties and Enlargements: Key Milestones

4th Enlargement — 1995: Austria, Finland, Sweden

4th Enlargement: 1995 — Austria, Finland, Sweden; 15 MS (Member States).

Amsterdam Treaty (signed 1997, entered into force 1999)

Amsterdam: signed 1997 and entered into force 1999. It marked an expansion of the European Community's competences, introducing new policies on employment and anti-discrimination legislation.

• It notably established the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice within the Community pillar, aiming to ensure fundamental rights while enhancing cooperation in areas such as asylum, immigration, and judicial decisions.
• The treaty reinforced human rights protection and extended the ordinary legislative procedure to additional areas.

Nice Treaty (signed 2001, entered into force 2003)

Nice: signed 2001 and entered into force 2003. Negotiations faced challenges in reaching agreement on several agenda items.

• It expanded qualified majority voting in the Council and increased the use of the European Parliament–Council co-decision procedure.
• It introduced the Common Security and Defence Policy.
• Its ratification was initially rejected by Ireland due to concerns about military neutrality, leading to a second affirmative vote in 2002.

Failed Constitutional Treaty (2004 draft)

Failed Constitutional Treaty (2004): a draft that sought to establish the EU as an autonomous constitutional democracy, incorporating symbols of national constitutional democracy and introducing substantive reforms. It failed to gain unanimous ratification, leading to its abandonment and the subsequent negotiation of the Lisbon Treaty, which built upon its foundations.

5th Enlargement — 2004 and 2007

5th Enlargement: 2004 — 10 MS; 2007 — 27 MS.

Lisbon Treaty (signed 2007, entered into force 2009)

Lisbon: signed 2007 and entered into force 2009. The treaty represented a shift away from the constitutional concept and introduced significant institutional and legal reforms.

• It retained the Treaty on European Union (TEU) while renaming the Treaty establishing the European Community to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
• The pillar structure was abolished, consolidating the European Community into the EU, which gained legal personality.
• The European Council became a formal EU institution, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU was granted binding status.
• The treaty expanded EU competences, increased the number of topics under the ordinary legislative procedure, and altered the method for calculating qualified majority voting in the Council.
• In foreign policy, it renamed the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs to the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and established the European External Action Service.

Latest Enlargement and Member-State Count

Latest enlargement: 2013 — Croatia (CR). The EU reached 28 MS; following the United Kingdom's withdrawal, the EU comprises 27 MS.

Notes: Abbreviations retained for clarity: MS = Member States; CR = Croatia. This text corrects spelling, grammar, and capitalization while preserving the original factual content and sequence of events.