Challenges of the Knowledge Society (Jun 2023)
THE ROLE OF THE NICE TREATY IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION – ANALYSED 20 YEARS AFTER ITS ENTRY INTO FORCE
Abstract
If we analyse the period between the adoption, signing and entry into force of the main amending treaties (the Single European Act, the Treaty of Maastricht, the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Treaty of Nice and the Treaty of Lisbon), we find that the shortest period was between the Treaty of Amsterdam and the Treaty of Nice. Almost seven years had passed between the Treaty of Nice and the Treaty of Lisbon, if we consider the date of entry into force, and the Treaty of Lisbon has turned out as one of the longest-lasting treaties (over 13 years), until at present. Referring to the dynamics of the domestic, European and international society, in the context of the acceleration generated by digitization (the access to information from the last decade1), with the consideration of previous periods, we can appreciate, without worrying of making a mistake, that the merits of the Treaty of Lisbon can be considerably enhanced. For Romania, the Treaty of Nice is particularly important, as it also is for the other 11 states in Central and Eastern Europe, because, with this treaty, for the first time, seats in the European Parliament were allocated to all those states, and also the votes within the Council of the European Union, and not only (if we consider the representation of all these states in all the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the European Union).
