Berlin Declaration
- Berlin declaration marks EU's 50th anniversary (Photo: www.delaus.ec.europa.eu)
Berlin Declaration
On 25 March 2007 the Heads of State and Government of the 27 EU countries met for a solemn meeting in Berlin to celebrate the 50 years birthday of the Treaty of Rome.
They adopted a “Berlin declaration” on the values of the European Union. More important, the then new German Chancellor Angela Merkel succeeded - through secret diplomacy- in reaching agreement on restarting the EU constitutional process following the rejection of the Treaty Esrtablishing a Constitution for Europe by French and Dutch voters in 2005
On 21-23 June 2007 Mrs Merkel was able to conclude the German Presidency with the adoption of a precise negotiating mandate for the revised EU constitution, the so-called Lisbon Treaty. The Lisbon Treaty re-establishes the rejected "constitution of Europe" under a new name and with a different presentation. The new Constituton was based on amendments to the existing Treaties rather than explicitly claiming to be a new Constitution. It contains very few deletions and additions compared to the original constitution.
The Lisbon Treaty entered into force on 1 December 2009.
Links
Text of the Berlin Declaration: http://www.eu2007.de/en/About_......Treaty/BerlinerErklaerung.html
