On 19 October, European Heads of State and Governments reached an agreement on a new treaty designed to replace the European Constitution rejected by French and Dutch citizens in 2005. The EU’s reform treaty, agreed at a summit in Lisbon on Friday will be formally signed on the 13 December, after which it must be ratified by all national parliaments and the European Parliament. The new treaty would enter into force in 2009, if approved.

The revised EU treaty amends existing EU treaties and is designed to speed up decision making in the enlarged European Union. Amongst others, the reform treaty eliminates vetoes in a number of areas, creates a new president of the European Council and a new foreign affairs chief.

Environmental organisations have cautiously welcomed the agreement, which they believe does not scale back the EU environmental ambitions and even includes some changes that should enhance environmental protection.

According to the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), environmental principles included in the existing EU treaty remained intact, including the need to integrate green considerations in all areas of EU policy and the primacy of the precautionary principle.

As far as public health is concerned, the new adopted text considerably weakens the provisions of the defunct Constitutional treaty. For an in-depth analysis of health in the Reform Treaty, please see the European Public Health Alliance article.

For more information please see the websites of the Portuguese Presidency or The Council of the European Union.