EU Leaders Celebrate The 10th Anniversary Of The Lisbon Treaty

On Sunday European Union Leaders celebrated a decade that brought change to Europe through the Lisbon Treaty. The union’s legal cornerstone is facing a crossroads. Amid calls to reform a bloc, which over the past decade has weakened. Due to the economic and migration crisis, rising Euroskepticism and Brexit.

Sunday also marked the first day at work for Ursula von der Leyen the new President of the European Commission.

“Europe is a promise, is future, is something we all have to build, brick by brick and day by day”

Started my 1st day in office with courtesy phonecalls to G7/G20 family. To tackle global challenges effectively, we have to work together. #geopoliticalcommission pic.twitter.com/NWlXqZjf4Q

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 1, 2019

There couldn’t be a better day for the new Commission to begin our work than the 10th anniversary of the Treaty of Lisbon.
We are the guardians of the Treaties & custodians of the Lisbon spirit. It’s a responsibility towards the European people & our founding fathers and mothers. pic.twitter.com/aLaJA3tdV5

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 1, 2019

Lisbon Treaty Guidelines

The Lisbon Treaty came into affect ten years ago to help forge unity from the ashes of WWII. Today the treaty finds itself besieged by separation.

The EU’s main axis Germany and France called for a “Conference on the Future of Europe.” By mid-2022 they want the EU to be more united and sovereign.

What the Lisbon Treaty did was simplify decision making, strengthen the role of elected European Parliament and reduced governments’ veto powers over legislative changes.

The treaty also left some areas vulnerable to veto from a single member state such as foreign policy and tax requiring unanimity.

In 2015, the bloc failed to apply a common asylum policy to tackle migration. In doing so a huge number of refugees from the Middle East flooded into Europe causing the worst migration crisis since World War II.

The treaty is also divided by economic reform, causing fear to creep in that Euro currency may not be strong enough to combat a future financial crisis.

(Cover photo courtesy of Yahoo News UK, video courtesy of YouTube and Euro News, source Reuters)