Winds of Treaty change? Taking fundamental rights in the EU yet more seriously
| Published date | 01 October 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1023263X241248500 |
| Author | Elise Muir |
| Date | 01 October 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
Winds of Treaty change? Taking
fundamental rights in the EU yet
more seriously
Elise Muir*
Proposals for Treaty reform at EU level have recently attracted attention in European public debate.
In June 2022, the European Parliament (‘the Parliament’) called for a Convention for an extensive
revision of the Treaties within the meaning of the ordinary Treaty revision procedure as set out in
Article 48(2) to (5) TEU.
1
In November 2023, the Committee for Constitutional Affairs of the
Parliament further adopted a motion for a Parliament Resolution on proposals for the amendment
of the Treaties.
2
The latter has now received the support of the plenary.
3
Meanwhile, a group of
twelve experts (‘The Group of Twelve’), entrusted with the task of reflecting on EU institutional
reform by the French and German governments, issued its recommendations.
4
While the
Member States, in particular France and Germany, have not taken an official position on these
recommendations (and may be unlikely to do so), the experts have been touring Europe since
then to explain their proposals. Other initiatives have started popping up.
5
Perhaps even more importantly, significant institutional change is back on the agenda of the leaders for
the first time since the Lisbon Treaty finally entered into force in 2009. Meeting informally in Granada in
October 2023, the Heads of States and Governments acknowledged that ‘the Union needs to lay the
*
Institute for European Law of KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Corresponding author:
Elise Muir, Institute for European Law of KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
E-mail: elise.muir@kuleuven.be
1. European Parliament resolution of 9 June 2022 on the call for a Convention for the revision of the Treaties (2022/
2705(RSP)), P9_TA(2022)0244.
2. European Parliament, Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Report on proposals of the European Parliament for the
amendment of the Treaties (2022/2051(INL)), 7 November 2023, A9-0337/2023.
3. European Parliament resolution of 22 November 2023 on proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the
Treaties (2022/2051(INL)), P9_TA(2023)0427.
4. O. Costa et al., ‘Report of the Franco-German Working Group on EU Institutional Reform —Sailing on High Seas:
Reforming and Enlarging the EU for the 21st Century’,Politico.eu (2023), https://www.politico.eu/wp-content/
uploads/2023/09/19/Paper-EU-reform.pdf.
5. See for instance ‘Joint Statement of the Foreign Ministries on the Launch of the Group of Friends on Qualified Majority
Voting in EU Common Foreign and Security Policy’,Federal Foreign Office (2023), https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/
en/newsroom/news/-/2595304. The group includes Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands,
Slovenia, and Spain.
Editorial
Maastricht Journal of European and
Comparative Law
2023, Vol. 30(5) 543–553
© The Author(s) 2024
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DOI: 10.1177/1023263X241248500
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