Spain authorizes ratifying the European Union's Lisbon Treaty

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The law authorizes Spain to ratify the Lisbon Treaty, signed in Lisbon on December 13, 2007, which amends the European treaties.
2. Article 2 reproduces the full text of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and provides that the fundamental rights recognized by the Spanish Constitution must also be interpreted in line with it.
3. According to the explanatory statement, the Treaty brings the Union closer to citizens: it makes co-decision between the European Parliament and the Council the ordinary legislative procedure, and creates a citizens' initiative that, with at least one million signatures from several member states, can ask the Commission to make a proposal.
4. The Treaty creates the President of the European Council (two and a half years, renewable once) and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs, supported by a European External Action Service.
5. Qualified majority voting is extended to almost fifty new legal bases, but unanimity remains the rule for taxation, foreign policy, social policy, the Union's financial resources and treaty reform.
6. The Treaty includes changes of special interest to Spain: a better regime for the outermost regions, more seats in the European Parliament, energy interconnections and the possibility of freezing the funds of terrorist groups.

Who it affects

• Citizens of the European Union: They gain a popular initiative to ask the Commission for proposals, and their rights are reinforced by the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
• European Union institutions: Their decision-making rules change: more qualified majority voting, a new President of the European Council and a new High Representative.
• Spain and its public authorities: The state ratifies the Treaty and gains seats in the European Parliament and a better regime for the outermost regions.
• Workers and businesses: The Charter recognizes rights such as collective bargaining, strikes, protection against unfair dismissal and freedom to run a business.

Words worth knowing

Ratificación (ratification)

A state's official approval of a treaty, which commits it to comply with it.

Codecisión (co-decision)

Procedure under which a rule is approved only if both the European Parliament and the Council agree.

Mayoría cualificada (qualified majority)

Voting system in which a decision passes with a large share of states and population, not unanimously.

Regiones ultraperiféricas (outermost regions)

Spanish and other EU territories located far from the European continent, such as the Canary Islands.

Ley Orgánica (organic law)

Spanish law reserved for especially important matters, requiring an absolute majority in the Congress to pass.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries