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Implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon

 

Current questions of Implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon

 

Current questions of Implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon on the EU Level

In the course of the implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon on the EU level it will be first of all necessary to assign the new top positions provided for by the Treaty. In particular, the posts of permanent President of the European Council, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Secretary General of the Council. Permanent President of the European Council shall be elected for a term of two and a half years, shall chair the sessions of the European Council, conduct its proceedings and shall ensure the external representation of the Union on issues concerning its common foreign and security policy (without prejudice to the powers of the High Representative). The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy shall be appointed by the European Council acting by a qualified majority. His appointment will be at the same time subject to the approval of the President of the Commission. This post will combine the existing posts of the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Chairman of the Council for General Affairs and External Relations and Commissioner for External Relations.

It will also be necessary to establish the European External Action Service that should support the High Representative during the performance of his duties. This Service shall work in cooperation with the diplomatic services of the Member States and shall comprise officials from relevant departments of the Secretariat General of the Council and of the Commission, as well as personnel of national diplomatic services delegated by the Member States.

In accordance with the Treaty of Lisbon, a new Commission for the period of 2009 – 2014 will be appointed. The newly appointed Commission will continue to have as many members as there are Member States in the Union. The duties of the Commissioner for External Relations will be newly exercised by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy who will, at the same time, exercise the duties of the Vice-President of the Commission.

Implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon within the framework of the Czech Republic

After the publication of the Treaty of Lisbon in the Collection of International Treaties of the Czech Republic, the Treaty will directly become an integral part of the Czech legal order on the basis of Article 10a in conjunction with Article 10 of the Constitution of the Czech Republic. To ensure the effectivity of the Treaty in the Czech Republic it is therefore not necessary to transform it into the national legislation as is in some other EU Member States, for example in the Federal Republic of Germany.

However, the above mentioned does not prevent the adoption of the implementing legislation to the Treaty of Lisbon to enable or facilitate the application of rights and duties embodied in the Treaty.

To ensure the cohesion of the Treaty of Lisbon with the legal order of the Czech Republic, the Parliament of the Czech Republic adopted –already before the ratification of the Treaty in the Czech Republic - the so called “Lisbon” Amendment to the Act on the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Senate of the Czech Republic (Act No. 162/2009 Col.).

Significant strengthening of the role of national parliaments within the framework of decision-making processes on the Union level represents an important contribution of the Treaty of Lisbon. The “Lisbon” amendment of the Rules of Procedure responds to the strengthening of the role of national parliaments and sets up the procedures enabling the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic to take effectively advantage of the new mechanisms provided for by the Treaty of Lisbon. The above mentioned Amendment of the Rules of Procedure for example regulates the debating of European acts in both Chambers of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, embodies the procedure for bringing an action for violation of the principle of subsidiarity and, last but not least, the right of the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate to veto a draft decision of the Council or of the European Council.

Moreover, this Amendment of the Rules of Procedures embodies also the so-called “binding mandate” of the Government concerning certain decisions in the Council or in the European Council. According to this mechanism, in certain cases of decisions to be adopted in the above-mentioned EU bodies, the representative of the Government of the Czech Republic will not be able to express consent to the draft decision without preliminary consent of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. Mandate of the Government to express consent to a decision will therefore be subject to prior approval of both Chambers of the Parliament.

 

 

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