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Enhanced co-operation

The European Council must unanimously approve any "enhanced co-operation" (Photo: European Commission)

The 1999 Treaty of Amsterdam allowed individual member states to establish closer co-operation among themselves using the common EU institutions, so long as any agreements did not affect the "aquis communautaire" or the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Any enhanced co-operation had to be approved by a unanimous decision of the European Council. This allowed single countries a veto. The provision was therefore difficult to implement and was never used. From 1^st February 2003 the Treaty of Nice allowed enhanced co-operation between at least eight countries, inclusive of the field of CFSP, if a qualified majority approved. There are, however, some exceptions: areas that fall under exclusive EU competences and defence and military issues.  

Notes

Some Euro-critics see enhanced co-operation for sub-groups of EU members as providing the legal basis for a two-tier, two-class EU. If a group of Member states large enough to have a majority within the EU decide to make decisions among themselves, they will be able to run the EU without consulting the rest of the Member states. Others see it as an instrument of flexibility, the  basis for an EU of "concentric cirles"

The future

The Lisbon Treaty permits enhanced cooperation for 1/3 of the Member statesm that is, nine or over, decided by qualified majority ... in foreign and security policy by unanimity. See the Lisbon Treaty Art. 20 TEU and Arts. 326 - 334 TFEU. For defence coooperation between fewer countries ("structured cooperation")see Arts. 42.6 and 46 TEU.  

Links

See also Variable Geometry and Hard Core.