International Policy Analysis 1 The Lisbon Treaty, a substitute solution for the Euro­pean Constitution, will come into force on 1 January 2009. In the 27 member states of the European Union debates will take place during 2008 on ratification of this new European treaty. With the new European treaty European unifica­tion will take a major step forward. The European Union will become more democratic and more capa­ble of acting. We shall experience a twofold advance: first, from a Europe of states to a Europe of citizens, and second, from a purely economic union to a po­litical union. With the Lisbon Treaty the European uni­fication story is not over, however. But with the Basic Treaty Europe can better meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, from securing energy supplies and environmental protection to the improvement of internal and external security in Europe. In many debates the impression has been raised that the Treaty will entail losses, whether it be in terms of national sovereignty, regional identity or even dem­ocratic participation. The opposite is true. The new European Treaty has many winners. For the first time it has been possible to establish a balanced system of governance from the local to the European level. Alongside the various state levels, citizens in particu­lar, as well as organised civil society, will find their rights and possibilities for participation considerably strengthened. Citizens as winners 1. With the Charter of European Citizens’ Rights the most comprehensive and modern catalogue of rights and liberties in the world is embedded in the new European Treaty. For the first time, in a cata­logue of fundamental rights people’s social and economic rights stand on equal terms with the classic civil rights and liberties. These rights can be legally enforced before the European Court of Jus­tice(ECJ) in Luxembourg. Besides the legally en­forceable fundamental rights the Charter also con­tains a multitude of“country aims”, from child protection to the right to a dignified old age. The Charter of Fundamental Rights is the“soul” of the new European Treaty. In it are set down the values and aims for the protection and modernisation of the European Social Model. 1 1 One sour note is the UK and Poland’s“opt-out” from the Charter of Fundamental Rights. People in these two EU member states will not remain unprotected. The exit clauses, however, introduce considerable uncertainty into the heart of the EU and weaken the EU’s united front externally, for example, in the dialogue on fundamental rights with coun­tries such as China and Russia. 2. With the Lisbon Treaty citizens will for the first time be able to influence directly policy forma­tion in Brussels. The“ European citizens’ initiative” (Art. 11) introduces an instrument of direct democ­racy into European politics: if more than a million European citizens support a political demand by signing a petition the European Commission must put it on the policy agenda. The European citizens’ initiative will prove to be a dynamic connecting link for people from Poland to Portugal. It will above all make possible a Europe“from below”. The EU is in this respect more progressive than many mem­ber states, in which there are no elements of direct democracy. 3. With the new European Treaty citizens will for the first time acquire influence over the election of the EU’s“head of government”, namely the president of the European Commission, who is head of the European executive. In future he or she will be elected by the European Parliament. As a result, the elections to the European Parliament in June 2009 will take on a new significance. Citizens will ultimately decide the political direction in which the European Union will develop. It is now desirable and even necessary that the European party families nominate suitably promi­nent candidates for the office of Commission pres­ident before the European elections. In this way citizens can for the first time choose between dif­ferent persons, and so also between different pro­grammes for the five-year legislative period. The European Union will in this way become closer to the citizens and also more transparent. 4. With the Lisbon Treaty the European Union will obtain new competences and possibilities for ac­tion in energy policy, environmental protection and internal security, as well as in the EU’s common external front. From EUROBAROMETER surveys over many years we know that these areas are par­ticularly important to citizens. For the first time the European Union will obtain competence for energy policy. Greater energy se­curity, more energy efficiency and the extension of renewable energies will be the guidelines of Euro­pean energy policy in the coming years. With the transition from unanimity to majority voting in further areas of internal and judicial policy the EU will be able to fight terrorism and crime bet­ter and more rapidly. There is also now a realistic chance of a European asylum and immigration pol­icy, which has been blocked for years. Greater con­vergence in terms of civil law and law on marital status will also be facilitated. Marriages and sepa­rations across national borders can be dealt with Jo Leinen is Member of the European Parliament and Chair of the Constitutional Committee.