Communication from the Commission to the Council - Reforming Europe for the 21st Century
Date: 2007-07-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Union, European citizenship, the EU's international role

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 10.7.2007 
COM(2007) 412 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

Reforming Europe for the 21st Century 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

Reforming Europe for the 21st Century 

Opinion of the European Commission, pursuant to Article 48 of the Treaty on European 
Union, on the Conference of representatives of the governments of the Member States 
convened to revise the Treaties 

I 

REFORMING EUROPE TOGETHER 

Europe has changed, the world has changed. The 21st century brings new challenges and new 
opportunities.  The  interaction  of  economies  and  peoples  worldwide  –  whether  by 
communication,  trade,  migration,  shared  security  concerns  or  cultural  exchange  –  is  in 
constant  evolution.  In  such  a  globalised  world,  Europe  needs  to  be  competitive  to  secure 
economic  growth  and  more  and  better  jobs,  in  order  to  achieve  an  overall  sustainable 
development.  Climate  change  calls  for  a  response  that  must  be  both  global  and  local. 
Demographic change has shifted some of the old certainties about the patterns of how society 
works.  New  security  threats  call  for  new  strategies  and  policies.  In  all  these  areas,  Europe 
needs  to  be  equipped  for  change.  Tomorrow's  prosperity  requires  new  skills,  new  ways  of 
working, and political, economic and social reforms. European society has the creativity and 
the ability to respond to these challenges. It has a bedrock of core values – freedom, human 
dignity, solidarity, tolerance, social justice, the rule of law – which have proved their worth. 
But to preserve and consolidate these values, Europe needs to adapt. It also needs the levers to 
turn intentions into reality. Member States cannot cope with the challenges of today or of the 
future  on  their  own:  only  a  collective  effort  –  applied  in  full  respect  for  subsidiarity  –  can 
provide the right response. This is the task of the European Union, and this is why it needs to 
have the right treaties, the right institutions and the right working methods. 

The test for Europe is the delivery of policies which meet the expectations and aspirations of 
citizens: a vision of a Europe ready to work together to realise a common future. 

The  European  Union  is  uniquely  well  placed  to  find  the  answers  to  today's  most  pressing 
questions.  A  Europe  of  27  or  more  Member  States  gives  the  opportunity  to  act  on  a 
continental  scale  and  to  face  up  to  issues  which  transcend  national  boundaries.  After  fifty 
years of integration and enlargement, the vision set out by Europe's founding fathers holds as 
good  as  ever.  Common  solutions  are  often  the  only  viable  approach  to  achieve  the  right 
responses  for  Europe  in  the  globalised  world:  to  modernise  the  European  economy  to  face 
new  competition,  to  keep  Europe  as  the  forefront  of  efforts  to  address  climate  change 
worldwide, to secure sustainable energy supplies, to manage migration effectively, to combat 
terrorism, to help developing countries to fight poverty, and to see European values promoted 
effectively  in  the  global  community.  The  European  Union  has  the  potential  to  reinforce  its 
policies  in  all  these  areas:  but  that  potential  must  not  be  held  back  by  outdated  ways  of 
working. 

To  realise  its  potential,  the  European  Union  needs  modernisation  and  reform.  Policy 
provisions  need  to  be  updated  to  reflect  the  demands  of  today.  The  delicate  balance  of  the 
Union's  institutional  mix  still  provides  the  best  combination  to  bring  together  Europe's 
strengths.  The  "Community  method"  –  and  more  particularly  the  European  Commission's 
special role and its right of initiative – is key to the success of the European system. But the 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
instruments  used  must  keep  pace  with  the  needs  of  the  enlarged  Union.  They  need  to  be 
effective  and  cohesive,  overcoming  the  inevitable  complications  of  dealing  with  a  diverse 
Europe  of  27  Member  States  to  make  a  reality  of  the  EU's  common  vision:  institutions  and 
working  methods  must  enjoy  streamlined  decision-making  equal  to  the  fast-moving 
challenges  of  today.  They  also  need  to  be  democratic  –  modern  European  society  rightly 
demands high  standards of accountability, transparency and participation.  The  legitimacy  of 
the European project must be grounded both in what it does, and how it acts. 

***************** 

Over  the  past  decade,  the  European  Union  has  been  looking  for  the  right  way  forward  to 
modernise  and  to  respond  better  to  the  concerns  and  aspirations  of  its  citizens.  The 
Commission has always been an active participant in this process. The Laeken Declaration set 
out where the EU needed reform. The enlargement of 2004 and 2007 intensified the need for 
the  way  the  Union  works  to  be  updated.  The  Convention  and  the  Inter-Governmental 
Conference  of  2004  sought  to  provide  an  answer  in  the  form  of  the  treaty  establishing  a 
Constitution  for  Europe.  The  Commission  has  always  strongly  supported  the  Constitutional 
Treaty  as  providing  the  right  response  to  the  challenges  Europe  faces.  The  Constitutional 
Treaty,  despite  being  ratified  in  a  majority  of  Member  States,  failed  to  secure  unanimous 
support. The period of reflection helped the Union to find a springboard for a resolution, with 
the Commission leading the way through the  Plan  D  initiative1 to spark ideas about how to 
make the EU more democratic, transparent and effective. 

With ratification of the Constitutional Treaty at a standstill, the need to reform Europe's way 
of working remained as compelling as ever. The European Commission set out to implement 
a  new  agenda,  which  won  support  at  the  Hampton  Court  informal  European  Council  of 
October 2005 and was pursued in the twin track approach set out in the "Citizens Agenda"2. 
This showed that to address the policy imperatives facing Europe, we need the right tools and 
the  right  working  methods.  The  steps  laid  out  towards  an  institutional  settlement  –  a 
framework at the European Council in June 2006, the Berlin Declaration in March 2007, and 
a comprehensive agreement on the elements for reform in June 2007 – have been realised. At 
the  same  time,  the  European  Union  has  confirmed  to  European  citizens  its  commitment  to 
policy reform from economic growth to job creation, from energy to migration, from climate 
change to innovation. In all these areas, Europe has delivered results.  

As  well  as  celebrating  the  50th  anniversary  of  the  Treaty  of  Rome,  the  Berlin  Declaration 
made  a  commitment  to  putting  the  Union  on  a  new  common  basis  before  the  European 
Parliament elections of 2009. After a period of political consultations, the European Council 
of  June  2007  agreed  to  convene  an  Inter-Governmental  Conference  (IGC)  in  July  2007.  A 
precise mandate was set out detailing the elements of reform. The task of the IGC is to agree 
the  text  of  a  Reform  Treaty  to  "amend  the  existing  Treaties  with  a  view  to  enhancing  the 
efficiency  and  democratic  legitimacy  of  the  enlarged  Union,  as  well  as  the  coherence  of  its 
external action". 

The agreement on the mandate confirms the twin track strategy as the right approach for the 
Union.  Europe  can  best  tackle  institutional  change  when  the  institutions  show  their 

1 

2 

The  Commission’s  contribution  to  the  period  of  reflection  and  beyond:  Plan  D  for  Democracy, 
Dialogue and Debate - COM(2005) 494 , 13.10.2005. 
A Citizens Agenda: Delivering results for Europe - COM(2006) 211 , 10.5.2006. 

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
                                                 
commitment to deliver on the political, economic and social imperatives. The Union seeks to 
serve its citizens, to deliver results to make their lives more prosperous and more secure, and 
to cement a Europe based on the values on which 50 years of European integration have been 
built. 

II 

THE REFORM TREATY 

The  European  Council  of  June  2007  agreed  a  precise  mandate  for  the  Inter-Governmental 
Conference.  The  mandate  was  the  fruit  of  a  carefully  crafted  compromise.  Together  with 
many positive elements, which are to be welcomed, this compromise meant that some of the 
changes agreed in the 2004 IGC were not retained, and a number of derogations were granted 
to individual Member States. The disappearance of some elements, including some symbolic 
ones, as well as changes that reduced the readability of the Treaty text, were necessary parts 
of a package agreement which could be subscribed to by all Member States. The Commission 
actively contributed to this compromise by finding solutions which balanced political realism 
with  ambition.  Compared  with  the  existing  Treaties,  the  changes  proposed  will  leave  the 
European Union with a sound institutional and political basis to meet the expectations of its 
citizens.  

The proposed Reform Treaty will amend the EU's two core treaties. The result will be a legal 
framework designed to give the Union the tools it needs to meet the challenges of the future, 
promoting  reform  while  respecting  the  strong  foundations  of  the  established  institutional 
balance which has served Europe so well over the past fifty years.  

The  mandate  set  out  in  considerable  detail  how  the  Inter-Governmental  Conference  (IGC) 
will put together the Reform Treaty. It defines the scope of the IGC, and is the exclusive basis 
for the IGC, detailing where the innovations agreed at the 2004 IGC will be taken on board 
and where specific new elements are brought in. As such it gives a clear picture of the two 
treaties of equal status which will emerge from the process to be presented for ratification. 

The mandate provides the right basis for a swift and efficient IGC able to agree a treaty for 
early  ratification.  The  goal  set  by  the  European  Council  of  ensuring  ratification  before  the 
European Parliament elections in June 2009 is both desirable and realistic. This goal should 
be met. 

The European Council emphasised that during the IGC and during the process of ratification, 
the  EU  should  reinforce  communication  with  its  citizens,  providing  them  with  full  and 
comprehensive information and involving them in permanent dialogue. The approach chosen 
–  amending  the  existing  treaties  –  makes  it  particularly  important  to  communicate  the 
proposed reforms and their underlying rationale, and to make available as soon as possible an 
easily accessible and readable text of the Treaties.  

A More Democratic and Transparent Europe  

With the Reform Treaty, Europe's democratic infrastructure will be refreshed and reinforced. 
It  will  offer  more  open  institutions  and  more  opportunities  for  Europeans  to  see  their  voice 
heard in the work of the Union. A new section of the treaty lays out the principles underlying 
the Union's democratic accountability.  

•  The increase of co-decision in around 50 areas will see the European Parliament placed on 
an equal footing with the Council for the vast bulk of EU legislation. This will include key 

EN 

4 

   EN 

 
areas  of  policy  including  freedom,  security  and  justice.  The  Parliament  will  also  see 
important new powers over the budget and international agreements.  

•  National parliaments will have greater opportunities to be involved in the work of the EU 
while  respecting  the  established  roles  of  the  EU  institutions.  This  includes  a  two-stage 
procedure to monitor subsidiarity which will allow national parliaments to draw concerns 
to the attention of the Commission: if a majority share the same concerns about a particular 
proposal,  the  Commission,  as  well  as  the  option  to  withdraw  or  amend,  may  choose  to 
maintain its draft and explain its reasoning for final decision by the European Parliament 
and the Council of Ministers.  

•  Citizens and national parliaments will see the decisions taken by their governments at first 
hand through opening the legislative discussions in the Council of Ministers to the public. 

•  The  Citizens'  Initiative  will  create  a  possibility  for  a  million  citizens  from  different 
Member  States  –  out  of  the  Union's  population  of  almost  500  million  –  to  trigger  an 
invitation to the Commission to bring forward a new proposal. 

•  The relationship between the Member States and the European Union will become clearer 

with the clear categorisation of competences. 

•  The Reform Treaty will make clear that Member States remain inside the Union by their 

own choosing, with a provision recognising that withdrawal from the EU is an option. 

A more effective Europe 

To turn policy aspirations into effective change for citizens, the EU needs the capacity to act. 
That  requires  institutions  and  working  methods  which  are  effective  and  streamlined.  The 
Community  method,  the  Union's  unique  mix  of  institutions,  provides  the  basic  structure  to 
enable the interests of different states and peoples in Europe to be married with the interests 
of  the  Union  as  a  whole.  The  Commission  attaches  particular  importance  to  the  primacy  of 
EU  law,  clearly  established  in  existing  case  law  and  recognised  in  the  mandate.  It  will 
continue  to  use  its  powers  in  areas  such  as  competition  policy  to  deliver  the  benefits  of  the 
Internal Market to its citizens. 

The Reform Treaty would update the Union's institutional system to reflect the need for the 
enlarged Union to adapt policies to a fast-moving world.  

•  The Reform Treaty will bring swifter and more consistent decisions to the policy areas of 
freedom, security and justice. This will mean a step change in Europe's ability to combat 
terrorism, to tackle crime and human trafficking, and to manage migratory flows. Member 
States which have decided not to participate in all aspects of freedom, security and justice 
policies might choose to play a full part in those areas of activity in the future.  

•  The Union will have an improved ability to act in areas of major priority for today's Union, 
through new and reinforced legal bases in areas including energy policy, public health and 
civil  protection,  and  new  provisions  on  climate  change,  services  of  general  interest, 
research  and  technological  development,  territorial  cohesion,  commercial  policy,  space, 
humanitarian aid, sport, tourism, and administrative cooperation. 

•  Streamlined procedures for economic governance will enhance coordination and facilitate 

decision-taking in the euro area.   

•  Qualified majority voting in the Council of Ministers will ensure that common issues can 
be tackled through common decision-making, fairly reflecting the varying sizes of the EU's 

EN 

5 

   EN 

 
Member States. The extension of qualified majority voting to more than 40 new cases will 
make a reality of EU action in these areas. 

•  A  simplified  way  of  calculating  qualified  majority  voting  will  strengthen  the  Council's 
efficiency and provide a clear balance between the number of Member States and the size 
of their population, once applied in November 2014.  

•  Where  at  least  nine  Member  States  would  like  to  take  collective  action  inside  the  Union 
framework,  they  will  be  able  to  use  enhanced  cooperation  procedures.  In  particular,  the 
path to enhanced cooperation is smoothed in the areas of judicial cooperation in criminal 
matters  and  police  cooperation.  Whilst  enhanced  cooperation  can  be  a  way  to  take  the 
diversity  of  the  enlarged  Union  into  account,  it  works  within  the  common  framework 
necessary for all Member States. 

•  The permanent President of the European Council will, in cooperation with the President 
of the Commission, ensure a better preparation and continuity in the work of the European 
Council. 

•  A  streamlined  Commission,  with  reinforced  authority  for  its  President,  will  continue  to 
play  its  central  role  in  EU  decision-making  and  to  reflect  different  parts  of  the  Union 
through a system of equal rotation. 

•  A ceiling on the number of MEPs, with a lower and upper limit for any one Member State, 

will stabilise citizens' representation in the European Parliament. 

•  Introducing  qualified  majority  voting  and  co-decision  for  future  reforms  to  the  Union's 

judicial system will help this system to adapt to the challenges of the future. 

•  Arrangements for conducting external policy will reflect the existing balance between the 
Member  States  and  the  institutions,  while  enabling  the  EU  as  a  whole  to  better  promote 
and protect European interests and values at the global level.  

•  Future  changes  to  policies  within  existing  competences,  extensions  to  qualified  majority 
voting  and  use  of  co-decision  can  be  agreed  without  needing  to  call  a  new  IGC,  while 
preserving the need for unanimous agreement.  

•  The confusing distinction between the "European Community" and the "European Union" 

will be brought to an end.  

A Europe of rights and values, solidarity and security 

The  Reform  Treaty  will  reinforce  the  imperatives  of  solidarity  and  security  in  the  Union. 
These  bind  together  the  Union,  the  Member  States  and  Europe's  citizens  and  encapsulate  a 
Union of mutual support and mutual protection. At the same time, practical steps will be taken 
in the new Treaty to develop EU action in areas like climate change and health, and give the 
Union  new  possibilities  to  promote  greater  solidarity  and  cohesion  throughout  Europe.  The 
extension  of  the  Union's  capacity  to  act  in  freedom,  security  and  justice  will  bring  direct 
benefits in terms of the Union's ability to fight crime and terrorism. The Reform Treaty will 
also introduce a new emphasis on the rights of individuals as citizens in the Union.  

•  The  Union's  values  and  objectives  will  be  set down  more  clearly  than  ever  before.  They 
will serve as a point of reference for European citizens, and will encapsulate what Europe 
has to offer to partners worldwide. They show how the European Union balances different 
goals  for  Europe,  pursuing  sustainable  development  while  promoting  political,  economic 
and social objectives.  

EN 

6 

   EN 

 
•  The  Charter  of  Fundamental  Rights  will  offer  Europeans  guarantees  with  the  same  legal 
status  as  the  treaties  themselves,  bringing  together  civil,  political,  economic  and  social 
rights which the Union's action must respect. Its provisions will also apply in full to acts of 
implementation of Union law, even if not in all Member States. The Union will be able to 
join the unique system of human rights protection established by the European Convention 
of Human Rights. 

•  Gaps  in  judicial  protection  ensured  by  the  European  Court  of  Justice  will  be  filled  to 
ensure jurisdiction in freedom, security and justice and to improve the individuals' rights of 
recourse to the Court.  

•  The  new  solidarity  clause  will  give  force  to  the  obligation  of  Member  States  to  support 

each other in the event of terrorist attack, natural or man-made disaster. 

•  The  need  for  solidarity  in  the  area  of  energy  is  given  special  prominence  in  the  Union's 
powers to help in case of shortage of supply, as well as emphasising that solidarity is an 
important aspect of new provisions on energy. 

•  New provisions on civil protection, humanitarian aid and public health all aim at boosting 

the Union's ability to respond to threats to the security of European citizens. 

•  The  new  horizontal  social  clause  will  give  prominence  to  the  Union's  commitment  to 
employment and social protection, and the role of the regions and the social partners will 
be confirmed as part of the political, economic and social fabric of the Union. 

Europe as an actor on the global stage 

One of the particular challenges for the European Union is its ability to harness its economic, 
political  and  diplomatic  strengths  to  promote  European  interests  and  values  worldwide. 
Globalisation  has  sharpened  the  need  to  address  the  most  pressing  issues  –  sustainable 
development, competitiveness, climate change, energy, terrorism, migration, the fight against 
poverty  –  which  link  both  internal  and  external  policy.  Prosperity,  freedom  and  security  all 
depend  on  Europe's  ability  to  project  itself  worldwide.  This  has  put  the  spotlight  on  the 
potential for combining the particular assets of all Member States with the collective weight 
of the Union as a whole, in full respect of the Union's institutional balance. To make a success 
of external policy, the Union's external policy instruments need to be geared to work together 
to  best  effect.  The  mandate  maximises  this  coherence  by  ensuring  that  all  external  action 
policies – such as CFSP, trade, enlargement, development, and humanitarian assistance – are 
on an equal political and legal footing. 

The  Reform  Treaty  will  develop  the  Union's  capacity  to  act  by  bringing  together  Europe's 
external  policy  tools,  both  in  policy  development  and  policy  delivery.  It  will  give  Europe  a 
clear voice in relations with our partners worldwide, and sharpen the impact and visibility of 
our message. It will also bring more coherence between the different strands of EU external 
policy – such as diplomacy, security, trade, development, humanitarian aid, and international 
negotiations on a range of global issues. This will mean an EU able to play a more responsive 
and effective part in global affairs. 

•  Establishing a single legal personality of the Union will strengthen the Union's negotiating 
power,  making  it  even  more  effective  on  the  world  stage  and  a  more  visible  partner  for 
third countries and international organisations. 

EN 

7 

   EN 

 
•  The new High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-
President of the Commission will increase the impact, the coherence and the visibility of 
the EU's external action.  

•  The European External Action Service will provide a structure to support the full range of 
European external policies – as well as the external dimension of internal policies – in a 
more effective and coherent way. 

•  This new architecture for external relations will be married with a respect for the particular 
interests of Member States by retaining specific decision-making procedures in the area of 
Common Foreign and Security Policy. 

•  The  European  Security  and  Defence  Policy  will  be  brought  more  clearly  into  the  Union, 
preserving  special  decision-making  arrangements  but  also  paving  the  way  towards 
reinforced cooperation amongst a smaller group of Member States.  

III 

OPINION IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 48 OF THE TREATY ON EUROPEAN UNION 

The  Reform  Treaty  will  underpin  some  of  the  most  deep-seated  aspirations  of  European 
citizens.  It  will  reinforce  core  values;  it  will  clarify  key  issues;  it  will  reassure  persistent 
concerns. Above all, it will give the Union the capacity to deliver change, to make Europeans 
more secure and prosperous, to open up their opportunities to shape globalisation.  

The European Commission considers that the decisions of the European Council will provide 
a  Reform  Treaty  to  adapt  the  European  Union  to  the  needs  of  the  21st  century.  The 
Commission welcomes the convocation of the Inter-Governmental Conference, gives its full 
support to the mandate as agreed by the European Council, and is committed to contribute to 
its success. 

Europe  needs  a  Reform  Treaty  to  be  agreed  and  ratified  ahead  of  the  June  2009  European 
elections.  It  is  the  responsibility  of  all  participants  in  the  Inter-Governmental  Conference  to 
create the conditions for this goal to be met. 

EN 

8 

   EN