“I think in 30 years the European Union will be a federation”
Interview with Prof. Iordan Gh. BARBULESCU
Abstract: The interview’s purpose is to present professor’s Iordan Gheorghe Barbulescu opinions regarding the Lisbon Treaty, the treaty’s stipulations and the way an evolution took place in the European Union. The discussion reaches important and actual subjects such as the internal and external challenges that the European Union has to confront, the necessity of the reform and the most important achievements in this direction, with the accent on the transformation of the Union as a subject of international law and on the inclusion of the Fundamental Rights Charter in the Treaty, the losses in comparison with the Constitutional Treaty and, also, the Romanian position in this context as a member of the European Union. The interview ends with the presentation of the foresights regarding the institutional evolution of the European Union in the next 30 years.
Key words: Treaty of Lisbon, international law subject, challenges, Constitutional Treaty, sui generis construction, Communitization, post-accession, federation
The European Initiative
Andrada Maria ALBESCU
Abstract: The article begins with the problem of the democratic deficiency that exists in the European Union analyzing the article introduced in the Lisbon Treaty which gives to the European citizens the right to determine the European Commission to create a law in an certain area. Afterwards, there are presented three problems that can occur from that article: in what measure the criteria of the one million signatures can be accomplished, the reaction of the large states in the situation when the signatures belong mostly to the citizens of small states and what will be the reaction of the member states governments if such a law is advanced by the citizens.
Key words: democratic deficit, European citizenship, primary law, legislative proposal
A New Provision: the EU Exit Clause
Daria MACOVEI
Abstract: The article presents the evolution of the unratified Constitutional Treaty’s stipulations to the final form of the Lisbon Treaty. The process through which the form of the Reform Treaty was reached as well as the excluded elements from the Constitutional Treaty with the purpose of excluding the possibility of loosing the present responsibilities by the national governments are presented. Among the reforms advanced trough this treaty the stipulation that the member states can withdraw from the Union is detailed. Then, the article details the procedures through which this process can be completed and the role of the European institutions in it.
Key words: Treaty of Lisbon, Constitutional treaty, reform, member state, exit
Common Values in the European Union
Alexandra MIHAIU
Abstract: The article has the purpose to present the European values the way they are presented in the Lisbon Treaty and to detect the evolution of the values which are in the foreground of the Community’s preoccupations. This way the transition from the concept of common values to the concept of European values is presented, it’s purpose to avoid the opposition of eurosceptics who saw in the first formulation a loss of national identity. Afterwards, the European values which are mentioned in the Lisbon Treaty are presented and the main preoccupations in this area, namely the accent on the human being and, especially on minorities are highlighted.
Key words: Treaty on the European Union, common values, unity, diversity, European values, democracy, Constitution, equality, minorities
A Common Foreign Policy Dilemma
Eugen ROTARU
Abstract: This article has the purpose to highlight the importance of CFSP inside the European Union as a maintenance element of intergovernmentalism or of supranationalism. There are presented, first, the changes made by de Lisbon Treaty at the level of CFSP by the institution of the High Representative of the Union, by creating the European External Action Service and the embassies. Afterwards there are analyzed the implications of this policy beginning with the idea that the member states have the right to affirm a different position concerning foreign problems from the official position of the European Union. Kosovo case illustrates this situation.
Key words: efficiency, Communitization, CFSP, High Representative of the Union
Does Lisbon Establish an Army of the Union?
Andreea POPESCU
Abstract: The article wishes to present the evolutions registered through the Lisbon Treaty in the ESDP field and the constraints that involved in creating an European Union’s army. The first part of the article is about the development of the comunitarization of ESDP through the stipulations of the Lisbon Treaty and about what this policy exactly implies (organization, implication, missions) in comparison with NATO. In the second part of the article the reasons why an European Union’s army can not be created are identified. The reasons are external, internal, concerning the member states and the nature of the European Union as an international organization, and, also, there are historical reasons.
Key words: PESA ESDP, military and civilian effects, the European Defense Agency, peacekeeping, stabilization, conflict zones, NATO
EU Competences – the Source of Euroscepticism?
Alina NEDELCU
Abstract: This article presents the two positions that can be taken by the European citizens concerning the extending of the community competences. There are, on one hand, the citizens who support the supranational evolution of the community policies and, on the other hand, there are the eurosceptics who do not agree with this evolution. After that the distinction between the exclusive competences, the common ones and the complementary ones is made and there are specified the areas related to each category. In the end the issue of the authority to assign the competences is discussed and the “principle of subsidiarity” as a concept is introduced.
Key words: competencies, European citizen, Euro-skepticism, capacity of decision, exclusive competence, shared competence, complementary competence, principle of subsidiarity
(Re)Form Internal Market
Ioana TOMUS
Abstract: This article has the purpose to present the changes that take place in the Internal Market in accordance with the Lisbon Treaty, the most important evolutions were accomplished in the area of the liberalization of the services and work circulation. In the first part the evolutions of the Common Agriculture Policy which also includes fishing are explained and then the idea of transition from superficial changes to in depth transformations imposed by the Lisbon Treaty is highlighted. This transition is illustrated by the changes regarding the decision making competences of the European Parliament in the internal market area. The article ends with a case study that presents the implications of the changes imposed by the new treaty on the Romanian economy.
Key words: Treaty of Lisbon, Internal Market, Common Agricultural Policy, the codecision procedure, substantive changes, the Services Directive
The Reform Treaty: the Institutionalization of the Exception. “The British and Irish Baskets”: Fragmentation of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice?
Cristinela VELICU
Abstract: This article proposes to offer a concise perspective on the main innovations regarding the Title IV: Justice an Internal Affaires, the way it is configured in the Reform Treaty signed in Lisbon. In the second part there are illustrated the derogations and the implications on the institutional design, and, in the last part, there is presented a critical analysis of the implications that can occur after applying different exceptions in the process of creating a space of Liberty, Security and Justice.
Key words: Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, freedom, security, justice, JHA, co-decision, qualified majority, consolidated cooperation
The Solidarity Clause
Dana DUMITRU
Abstract: This article highlights the changes brought by the Lisbon Treaty at the level of the solidarity principle in case of a terrorist attack on one of the member states. The way that this stipulation works and the situations when it is activated are presented. In the end the weak points of the solidarity stipulation are illustrated among which: the conditionality of the activation of the stipulation on the attacked state’s request of help, the limitation of the help for the attacked state to a humanitarian one, the neutral state’s undefined status and the complications that can appear for the states that are member of both NATO and the European Union.
Key words: terrorism, mutual solidarity clause, international law, UN Charter, humanitarian aid
The New Institutional Configuration of the Union. Six points
Andrei DINU
Abstract: The article wants to present the institutional changes introduced by the Treaty regarding the Working of the European Union as a part of the Lisbon Treaty. These changes are detailed in six main issues. The Polish issue refers to the increasing importance that Poland obtains in the Union through Lisbon, the qualified double majority rule which will be introduced starting with 2017 for the vote in the European Council is defined, the number of members in the Commission will be reduced at 15 starting with 2014, the co-decision procedure will be extended confirming the increase of the European Parliament’s role in the Union, the subsidiarity principle will be consolidated by consulting the national parliaments for all the legislative proposals.
Key words: institutional design, decision-making, representativeness, “orange card”, co-decision, double qualified majority
The Originality of the European Construction: A Synthesis of National and Supranational Elements
Olguta POTOP
Abstract: The present study wants to detect the originality of the European construct from the multilevel governance’s perspective. In the first part the opposition between federalism and intergovernmentalism which marked the entire evolution of the European Union is presented. Afterwards, the article wants to present the distinctive characteristics that make the European Union a sui generis construct and, then, the governance model the way that Marks advanced it, having three distinctive characteristics is presented. In the end the evolution of the community institution’s competences is followed.
Keywords: originality, multi-level governance, federalism, intergovernmentalism, sui generis construct, sub-national, national, supranational, consensus, deliberative supranationalism, democratization
