THE EUROPEAN UNION

The first Treaty of what is now the European Union, the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), was signed in Paris in 1951 by France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy . This was intended to entrust to a supranational authority the direction and management of two fundamental sectors in the arms industry of the time, coal and steel.

Six years later, on March 27, 1957, the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (CEEA or EURATOM), which entered into force on January 1, were signed in Rome. 1958

Its objectives were the creation of a common operating market in the territory of the Member States, the institution of a customs union and the guarantee of the free movement of persons, goods, services and capital and the sharing of exploitation for civil purposes. of nuclear energy.

The first modification of the founding Treaties of the European Communities (ECSC, EEC and EURATOM) took place in 1986 with the signing of the Single European Act (AUE). Among other things, his signature involved the creation of the single market (scheduled for 1 January 1993), the increased role of the European Parliament, the improvement of the Council's decision-making capacity by increasing the number of issues to be decided by qualified majority instead of unanimously and the institutionalization of European political cooperation or intergovernmental cooperation.

The next step was the signing on February 7, 1992, in the city of Maastricht, of the so-called Treaty of the European Union (TEU). The TEU represented a major step forward in the process of European integration, since it created the European Union, composed of three pillars: the Community pillar, made up of the European Communities (EEC, ECSC, EURATOM) and the two pillars of intergovernmental cooperation: Foreign Policy and of Common Security (CFSP) and Justice and Home Affairs (JHA). The TEU also introduced the Economic and Monetary Union and with it the euro was adopted as the single currency and the citizenship statute of the Union was created.

On October 2, 1997, the Treaty of Amsterdam was signed, which marked the consecration of a more social and democratic Europe, incorporating the community pillar, the employment policy, communizing asylum and immigration policy and introducing a change in the denomination of the third pillar that happened to be called: Judicial and Police Cooperation in criminal matters. At the same time, it laid the foundations for enhanced cooperation between Member States within the framework of the institutions of the Union.

In order to establish the necessary institutional reform for the enlargement of the European Union to the countries of Eastern and Southern Europe, which took place in 2004 (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Cyprus) and Malta) and 2007 (Romania and Bulgaria), the Treaty of Nice was signed on February 26, 2001.

This Treaty proceeded to modify the composition and operation of the institutions to make them operational, thus limited the size and composition of the Commission, modified the way of appointment and strengthened the powers of its President, fixed the distribution of seats between countries in Parliament, it modified the procedure to reach a qualified majority in the Council and introduced greater flexibility in the mechanism of enhanced cooperation.

With regard to fundamental rights, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU was proclaimed, although without legally binding value.

On December 13, 2007, in the city of Lisbon, the Treaty of Lisbon or the Reformation was signed. This Treaty, which constitutes the original right in force, for the first time replaces the previous ones.

The Treaty of Lisbon is composed of two Treaties: the Treaty of the European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), both with the same legal value. As of the entry into force of these Treaties, in December 2009, the Union replaces and succeeds the European Community (Article 1 TEU).

Some of the most important reforms introduced are: the extension of qualified majority voting in the Council of the Union; a stronger European Parliament by extending the joint decision procedure with the Council of the EU (ordinary legislative procedure); the reduction of the number of members of the European Commission; the elimination of the three pillars of the European Union and the creation of the figures of President of the European Council and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, which has contributed to improving coherence and efficiency in the Union's external action and to improve the performance and visibility of the Union worldwide.

With the Treaty, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union becomes legally binding (Article 6 TEU).