Communitarisation
Communitarisation
The EU treaties were previously divided into a supra-national first "community "pillar, where supranational Community law operated, and two "intergovernmental" pillars, one on Foreign Policy and the other on certain aspects of Justice and Home Affairs.
The Lisbon Treaty abolished this pillar structure and brought some of the previous intergovernmental competences within the supra-national competence.
In Article 47 TEU it establish a joint legal personality for the European Union, allowing the EU to enter into international agreements covering all topics where the EU legislates.
The Lisbon Treaty also abolished the still legally existing European Community, which was the supranational entity that alone had legal personality up to December 2009.
