Analysis on the Treaty of Amsterdam: Influence and Challenges to the EU’ Decision-making Procedure
Author: Yu-chun Lan
Abstract / Chinese PDF Download
This essay tries to analyze the positive outcomes, the unfulfilled expectations and the unsolved problems of the Treaty of Amsterdam, amending the Treaty of Maastricht. The first part of the essay makes focus on what are probably most significant innovations of the Treaty: such as the communautarization of the third pillar of the Union (Justice and Home Affairs), the legalization of the so-called enhanced cooperation, the nomination of a M. CFSP, and the prospect of the integration of the WEU to the Union, the participation of the Commission at the Common foreign policy, and the simplification of the co-decision procedure between European Parliament and the Council. The second part of the essay analyzes the limitations and the new challenges brought by the Treaty on the Union’s decision-making procedure: such as the Emergency brake clause, the failure of the Amsterdam Treaty settlement to resolve the problems of the Qualified Majority Voting threshold, and the numbers of the Commissionners. These arguments lead to the conclusion: Amsterdam treaty, no matter how imperfect it is, represents a modest and gradual institutional reform on the Union, and the members of the Union need surely another negotiation to achieve the institutional reform for the next enlargement coming up.