6.1 Evolution of the European Treaties

6.1 Evolution of the European Treaties

Official Reference: Notice EPSO/AD/427/26 – Administrators (AD 5), Section 4.3.2(c): a 30-question EU knowledge test on "the EU, its institutions, procedures, and the main policies", taken in Language 2 in Part 2 of the testing phase.

In the reformed EPSO selection framework under Notice EPSO/AD/427/26, the EU Knowledge module constitutes one of the decisive competitive battlegrounds. Administered entirely in the candidate's chosen Language 2 (a different official EU language from Language 1), the test requires solving 30 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes (1 minute and 20 seconds per question). Unlike the qualifying cognitive hurdle of Numerical and Abstract Reasoning, EU knowledge is a ranked test: it carries 30% of the preliminary score and 25% of the final score, with a pass mark of 15 out of 30. EPSO has said that references to the sources used to develop the test will be published on its website approximately two months before the testing session. The Publications Office's EU careers: study materials page offers guidance publications in the meantime, which EPSO stresses are not the official source texts.

To achieve a top-decile score, candidates must move beyond general historical familiarity and demonstrate mastery of treaty provisions, constitutional turning points, institutional competence transfers, and legal nomenclature across seven decades of European integration.

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The Sectoral Origins: Paris (1951) and Rome (1957)

Modern European integration originated not from a comprehensive federal constitution, but through targeted, functional sectoral integration—a method formulated by Jean Monnet and articulated by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman in the Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950. Schuman declared: "Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity."

The Treaty of Paris (1951) — ECSC

The Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was signed in Paris on 18 April 1951 by the "Inner Six" Member States: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. It entered into force on 23 July 1952.

• Objective: Pool French and German production of coal and steel—the foundational raw materials of war materiel—under a common supranational authority, rendering armed conflict between historic adversaries materially impossible.
• Institutional Architecture: The treaty established the High Authority (an independent executive body chaired initially by Jean Monnet, the direct precursor to the European Commission), a Special Council of Ministers, a Common Assembly (composed of delegates from national parliaments), and a Court of Justice.
• Sunset Clause: Uniquely among European Treaties, the ECSC Treaty contained a 50-year expiration clause (Article 97). On 23 July 2002, the ECSC Treaty formally expired, and its assets, liabilities, and regulatory competence were absorbed into the European Community framework under the Treaty of Nice Protocol.

The Treaties of Rome (1957) — EEC and Euratom

Following the collapse of the European Defence Community (EDC) and European Political Community projects in the French National Assembly in 1954, the Foreign Ministers of the Six convened at the Messina Conference (1955) to relaunch economic integration. Chaired by Belgian Foreign Minister Paul-Henri Spaak, the preparatory committee drafted two foundational treaties signed on 25 March 1957 in Rome, entering into force on 1 January 1958:

1. The Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (TEEC): Established a general common market and customs union among the Six. The EEC Treaty dismantled internal customs tariffs and quantitative restrictions, created a Common External Tariff (CET) completed ahead of schedule on 1 July 1968, and established the Four Freedoms: free movement of goods, persons, services, and capital. It also mandated common policies in agriculture (the Common Agricultural Policy — CAP) and transport.
2. The Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom): Created a coordinated framework for developing civil nuclear energy, nuclear research, safety standards, and peaceful nuclear fuel supply.

Institutional Rationalisation: The Merger Treaty (1965)

Initially, the ECSC, EEC, and Euratom operated with separate executive and ministerial organs, though they shared the Parliamentary Assembly and the Court of Justice from 1958. The Merger Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the European Communities), signed on 8 April 1965 and effective 1 July 1967, formally merged the executives into a single Council of the European Communities and a single Commission of the European Communities, laying the groundwork for the unified European Communities (EC).

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The Single Market Imperative: Single European Act (1986)

Following the economic stagnation, currency volatility, and persistent non-tariff protectionism of the 1970s and early 1980s (termed "Eurosclerosis"), the European Council mandated the newly appointed Commission President Jacques Delors to revitalize the European economy.

In June 1985, the Commission issued the historic White Paper, Completing the Internal Market, drafted under the leadership of Internal Market Commissioner Lord Cockfield. The White Paper catalogued 282 specific legislative measures required to eliminate physical, technical, and fiscal barriers across Europe.

To enact this ambitious legislative agenda without being paralyzed by national vetoes, the Member States negotiated the Single European Act (SEA), signed in February 1986 and entering into force on 1 July 1987:

• The 1992 Deadline: Added Article 8a to the EEC Treaty (later Article 14 EC, now Article 26 TFEU), establishing the objective of completing the internal market by 31 December 1992 as "an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured".
• Qualified Majority Voting (QMV): Introduced QMV in the Council for internal market approximation measures under former Article 100a EEC (now Article 114 TFEU). This removed the unanimity requirement for product standards, health and safety technical specifications, and trade rules, neutralizing individual Member State vetoes.
• Parliamentary Powers: Established the cooperation procedure (former Article 149 EEC), granting the European Parliament a two-reading legislative voice, and introduced the assent procedure (now consent) for accession treaties and association agreements.
• Institutional Codification: Formally codified the European Council (the periodic summits of heads of state or government) and established institutional cooperation in foreign policy under the framework of European Political Cooperation (EPC).

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The Supranational Leap: Treaty of Maastricht (1992)

The geopolitical transformation triggered by the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) and German reunification (1990) accelerated European integration. The Member States convened intergovernmental conferences on political and monetary union, concluding the Treaty on European Union (TEU), signed in Maastricht on 7 February 1992 and entering into force on 1 November 1993.

The Three-Pillar Temple Structure

Maastricht restructured the European integration project into a symbolic Greek temple comprising three distinct "pillars" resting on a common constitutional pediment and base:

Major Substantive Innovations of Maastricht

1. Economic and Monetary Union (EMU): Established a binding three-stage roadmap leading to the establishment of the European Central Bank (ECB) on 1 June 1998 and the launch of the single currency (the euro) on 1 January 1999. It codified the strict Maastricht Convergence Criteria under Protocol No. 13: price stability (inflation within 1.5 percentage points of the three best-performing Member States), fiscal discipline (government budget deficit below 3% of GDP and gross government debt below 60% of GDP), exchange rate stability within the ERM bands for 2 years, and long-term interest rates within 2 percentage points of the three best price-stability performers.
2. European Citizenship: Introduced Union Citizenship (former Article 8 EC, now Article 20 TFEU), held automatically by every national of an EU Member State. European citizenship established independent civic rights: the right to move and reside freely; the right to vote and stand in municipal and European Parliament elections in the Member State of residence; consular protection by any Member State in third countries; and the right to petition the European Parliament and the newly created European Ombudsman.
3. Co-Decision Procedure: Instituted the co-decision legislative procedure (former Article 189b EC), giving the European Parliament, for the first time, the power to block legislation in the fields it covered. The Amsterdam Treaty later simplified the procedure and made Parliament a genuinely equal co-legislator.
4. The Subsidiarity Principle: Formally codified the principle of subsidiarity into primary treaty law (former Article 3b EC, now Article 5(3) TEU).

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Preparing for Eastern Enlargement: Amsterdam (1997) & Nice (2001)

With ten Central and Eastern European applicant countries, Cyprus, and Malta preparing to join the Union, the institutional framework designed for six Member States required fundamental overhaul.

The Treaty of Amsterdam (1997)

Signed on 2 October 1997 and entering into force on 1 May 1999, Amsterdam focused on social policy, fundamental rights, and security:

• Communitarisation of the Schengen Acquis: Incorporated the 1985 Schengen Agreement and 1990 Implementing Convention into the EU legal framework. The United Kingdom and Ireland obtained statutory opt-outs, while Denmark secured a special intergovernmental protocol. Non-EU states (Norway, Iceland, and later Switzerland and Liechtenstein) became associated Schengen members.
• Reorganization of Pillar III: Shifted policies on asylum, visas, immigration, and civil judicial cooperation from the intergovernmental Pillar III into the supranational Pillar I under the new Title IV of the EC Treaty, creating the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ). Pillar III was retained in a reduced form, renamed Police and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters (PJCCM).
• High Representative for CFSP: Created the post of High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, assigned ex officio to the Secretary-General of the Council (initially Javier Solana).
• Social and Employment Chapter: Incorporated the Social Policy Agreement into the main body of the treaty following the UK's withdrawal of its Maastricht opt-out, and added a dedicated Employment Title.

The Treaty of Nice (2001)

Signed on 26 February 2001 and entering into force on 1 February 2003, the Treaty of Nice was designed to resolve the "Amsterdam leftovers"—the institutional mechanics required to accommodate eastern enlargement:

• Re-weighting of Council Votes: Reallocated voting weights in the Council among all 27 prospective Member States, creating a complex triple-majority requirement (voting points, number of Member States, and optional 62% population verification).
• Cap on European Parliament Seats: Re-allocated seats to maintain an overall ceiling (originally set at 732 seats).
• Judicial Architecture: Reformed the Court of Justice, expanding the powers of the Court of First Instance (now the General Court) and authorizing the creation of specialized judicial panels (such as the European Union Civil Service Tribunal, later dissolved in 2016).
• Charter Proclamation: The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union was solemnly proclaimed by the Presidents of the Parliament, Council, and Commission at Nice in December 2000, but remained purely political and non-binding.

The Constitutional Crisis (2004–2005)

To replace the cumbersome patchwork of treaties, the European Convention chaired by former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing drafted the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE). Signed in Rome in October 2004, the TCE sought to merge the TEU and EC Treaty into a single constitutional document, incorporating state-like symbols (EU flag, anthem, motto, European Foreign Minister title). However, the draft constitution collapsed when voters in France (54.7% No) on 29 May 2005 and the Netherlands (61.5% No) on 1 June 2005 decisively rejected it in national referendums.

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The Lisbon Architecture (2007/2009): TEU and TFEU

Following an eighteen-month "period of reflection," the European Council abandoned constitutional terminology and state symbols, stripping out the federalist rhetoric while preserving most of the institutional substance in an amending treaty: the Treaty of Lisbon, signed on 13 December 2007. After surviving an initial referendum rejection in Ireland (June 2008) and legal challenges before the German Federal Constitutional Court and Czech Constitutional Court, it entered into force on 1 December 2009.

Abolition of the Pillar Structure & Unitary Legal Personality

The Treaty of Lisbon enacted profound structural changes:

1. Abolition of the Three Pillars: The historic Maastricht pillar distinction was dismantled. The European Community was dissolved and completely absorbed into the European Union. Under Article 47 TEU, the European Union was explicitly conferred single, unitary legal personality, enabling it to conclude international treaties, join international organizations, and act as a unified subject of public international law.
2. The Dual Treaty Architecture:
   • Treaty on European Union (TEU): Contains 55 articles organized into 6 Titles. It sets forth foundational values (Art. 2), Union objectives (Art. 3), democratic principles, competence rules (Art. 4-5), institutional framework (Art. 13-19), specific provisions on the Common Foreign and Security Policy (Title V), and constitutional procedures including treaty revision (Art. 48) and voluntary withdrawal (Article 50 TEU).
   • Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU): Formerly the EC Treaty, expanded to 358 articles organized into 7 Parts. It details the specific scope of EU competences, internal policies (Internal Market, EMU, Competition, AFSJ, Agriculture, Environment), external action (Common Commercial Policy), and decision-making procedures.
3. Binding Status for the Charter of Fundamental Rights: Under Article 6(1) TEU, the Charter of Fundamental Rights was granted full legally binding status, with "the same legal value as the Treaties".

Institutional & Procedural Innovations under Lisbon

• Permanent President of the European Council (Article 15 TEU): Replaced the rotating six-month national presidency of the European Council with a full-time President elected by qualified majority for a 2.5-year term, renewable once (first held by Herman Van Rompuy, followed by Donald Tusk, Charles Michel, and António Costa).
• High Representative / Vice-President (HR/VP, Article 18 TEU): Combined the former Council High Representative and Commission External Relations Commissioner into a "double-hatted" institutional role, presiding over the Foreign Affairs Council while serving as Vice-President of the Commission. Created the European External Action Service (EEAS, Article 27(3) TEU) as the EU's diplomatic corps.
• Double Majority Qualified Majority Voting (Article 16(4) TEU): Replaced the complex Nice weighted votes with the double majority rule in the Council: a qualified majority requires at least 55% of Member States (minimum 15 of 27) representing at least 65% of the total EU population. A blocking minority must include at least four Member States; otherwise, the qualified majority is deemed reached.
• Ordinary Legislative Procedure (OLP, Article 294 TFEU): Former co-decision became the standard default law-making procedure, placing the European Parliament on completely equal footing with the Council across more than 40 new policy areas (including agriculture, fisheries, and police/judicial cooperation).
• European Citizens' Initiative (ECI, Article 11(4) TEU): Empowered at least one million EU citizens from a minimum of seven Member States (meeting national thresholds) to invite the European Commission to submit a legislative proposal on matters within its competence.

Systematic Summary: The European Treaties at a Glance