The Treaty of Nice comes into force, February 2003

Ireland's referendum on the Treaty of Nice on 19 October 2002, in which 63% of those voting supported the Treaty, cleared the last obstacle to the Treaty being adopted. Ireland's formal ratification documents were submitted in December and the Treaty came into force on 1 February 2003.

The Treaty itself was adopted by Member States at a marathon, 18-hour, final session at the Nice European Council in December 2000 and was formally signed on 26 February 2001. Although intended to prepare the Union for the impact of new members, the Treaty deferred many significant decisions to an Intergovernmental Conference to be held in 2004, at which leaders will be informed by the work of the Convention on the Future of Europe.

In a Memo issued to mark the Treaty's coming into force, the European Commission stated: 'the Treaty of Nice will be useful to manage the first stage of an enlarged Union; it has, however, not given a fully adequate answer to make a Union of 25 and more Member States work effectively and democratically.'

The BBC commented that 'the treaty is supposed to ensure that the EU does not grind to a bureaucratic halt when the new members join...The Convention on the Future of Europe is already working on a new constitutional treaty which could shake up the system far more radically.'

The Treaty provides a framework for the Union to function when 10 new members join on 1 May 2004, although some of the measures will not apply until later. Changes to the number of MEPs will apply from the June 2004 European Parliament elections (the number will rise to 732, although that figure was predicated on a Union of 27 Member States and there will therefore be a temporary pro rate increase in the number of MEPs from each of the 25 members).

Similarly, changes to the number of Commissioners will not take effect until 1 November 2004, with each Member State then having only one Commissioner (larger countries currently have two). Initially, however, new Member States will be allowed a Commissioner without portfolio. Once the Union comprises 27 members, there will be fewer Commissioners than there are Member States, with Commissioners being selected according to a rotation system. Decisions are yet to be made on the number of Commissioners and the system of rotation.

For the Council the qualified majority voting system will change from 1 November 2004, when 'a qualified majority will be obtained if the decision receives at least a specified number of votes (the qualified majority threshold) and the decision is approved by a majority of Member States.'

The Commission Memo seeks to clarify the situation:

'For the applicant countries joining before these dates, the accession treaties must therefore also establish the number of MEPs, commissioners, votes within the Council which will be allocated to them, and the qualified majority threshold, up until the entry into force of the new rules. These temporary provisions will be based on the principles which have applied up until now in the accession negotiations, i.e. the extension of the current system, ensuring equal treatment with the Member States of equivalent size.'

Nevertheless, the advent of the new Treaty does also mark some immediate changes, including broadening the scope of the codecision procedure (under which the European Parliament's decision-making role is enhanced) and extending the application of qualified-majority voting in Council. (Details of the areas affected by both are given in the Commission's Memo).

The Official Journal of the European Communities is now known as the 'Official Journal of the European Union'.

With respect to fundamental rights, the Treaty allows the European Council to 'declare that a clear danger exists of a Member State committing a serious breach of fundamental rights and address to that Member State appropriate recommendations.'

The Treaty also requires all formal meetings of the European Council to be held in Brussels, once the Union comprises 18 members. The Presidency will, however, still be free to arrange informal Council summits in other locations.

Other changes introduced by the Treaty impact on the European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance, the Economic and Social Committee, and the Committee of the Regions.

Links:

European Commission:
	31.01.03:	Summary of the treaty of Nice [MEMO/03/23]
	Treaty of Nice
BBC News Online:
	01.02.03:	Landmark EU treaty comes into effect
European Sources Online: In Focus:
	European Council, Nice, 7-11 December 2000
	Treaty of Nice signed 26 February 2001. What next for the European Union?, February 2001

Eric Davies
Researcher
Compiled: Monday, 3 February 2003

Ireland's referendum on the Treaty of Nice on 19 October 2002, in which 63% of those voting supported the Treaty, cleared the last obstacle to the Treaty being adopted. Ireland's formal ratification documents were submitted in December and the Treaty came into force on 1 February 2003.