“This is just the failed Constitution in new clothes…”
The Claim
The Treaty of Lisbon is the same as the rejected constitution.
Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, former French President, has been quoted as saying that “the Treaty of Lisbon is the same as the rejected constitution. Only the format has been changed to avoid referendums.”[1 Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, former French President and President of the Constitutional Convention in several European newspapers, 27 October 2007.]
Open Europe have claimed that “the new treaty in its unconsolidated form contains only the ‘active ingredients’ – the changes which were proposed by the original Constitution. However, once it is turned back into consolidated text it becomes obvious that the ‘new’ treaty essentially edits the existing treaties to bring them into line with the rejected constitution.”[2 “The Lisbon Treaty and the European Constitution: A side-by-side comparison” Open Europe, January 2008.]
The countries who voted against the Constitution don’t have the opportunity to vote against the Lisbon Treaty, it’s up to us to voice their rejection.
Michael O’Callaghan commented that “the Lisbon Treaty is a flawed proposal for an undemocratic Europe. Let’s hope the citizens of Ireland reject it, for the sake of the 482 million other citizens of EU Member States who are being denied their right to do so.”[3 Michael O’Callaghan, reply to “No vote may end EU Membership – MEP”, Irish Times, 31 May 2008. www.irishseedsavers.ie/article.php]
The Short Answer
The Lisbon Treaty is not the Constitution. The Lisbon Treaty updates or amends the existing Treaties, the Constitution was a single document that would have replaced them.
The Long Answer
The Lisbon Treaty has many similarities to the Constitution in terms of content but is a fundamentally different document in terms of what it does to Treaty law.
The basic aim of the European Constitution was to ensure that the Union – which had enlarged to 27 countries over the years – would work more efficiently, transparently and democratically. The Lisbon Treaty does share this aim. This Constitution was approved by 18 countries, but after the rejection by France and the Netherlands, the process for approval for this document was stopped.
When the European leaders met, they agreed that the Union did still need to be reformed but acknowledged that the concept of a Constitution for the Union was a step too far. As they had agreed a range of common positions for the reform of the Union during the European Constitution negotiations, they took this document as a starting point.
After removing all the Constitutional elements – such as formal recognition of the flag and an anthem – as these had previously caused concerns for some people in Europe, and working on a few other issues, the Lisbon Treaty was agreed and signed on 13 December 2007. (See our factsheet A Brief History of the Lisbon Treaty for more information on this.)
There is a vast amount of the content that is the same, but there are two fundamental differences.
• There are no ‘Constitutional’ elements in the Lisbon Treaty.
• The Lisbon Treaty adds to the current Treaties and amends them; the Constitution took all these Treaties, re-ordered them, revised them and would have replaced them.
The implication that the rest of Europe hasn’t approved the Treaty because the Constitution was previously rejected is neither true nor relevant. Other countries have approved the Treaty according to their own methods, and it is not the responsibility of the Irish people to vote on behalf of other European citizens. We have referendums, others do not.
And the quote above attributed to Valerie Giscard d’Estaing is not what he said. Read overleaf to find out more on this.