Today, leaders from the nations of the European Union signed the landmark Treaty of Lisbon which is to redefine foreign policy for the EU and creates an EU president. The treaty is a replacement for the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe which was abandoned after suffering defeats in referendums in France and the Netherlands.
“From this old continent, a new Europe is born,” said European Commission President José Manuel Barroso. “For the first time, the countries that were once divided by a totalitarian curtain, are now united in support of a common treaty that they had themselves negotiated.”
The President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy said to reporters: “Europe was blocked, without knowing how to move forward and we found the solution with this treaty.”
United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown did not attend, and David Milibrand signed the treaty in his stead. “This is a day for Europe to look to the future.,” Milibrand said.
Citing prior obligations for his failure to be in Lisbon, Brown has said he will add his signature at a later occasion, though critics have claimed he does “not have the guts” to sign and is trying to avoid the political liability of having his name on the the document.
Speaking at the ceremony, Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates said, “This was the European project that many generations dreamt of and others before us championed, with a vision of the future.”
From here, each country will have to ratify the treaty. Most countries will probably not hold referendums on the treaty, but some leaders have committed to do so, while in others the issue is being debated.
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