Yearender: Lisbon Treaty ushers in new chapter for European integration

BRUSSELS, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Lisbon Treaty came into force on Dec. 1, ending an eight-year horse-trading and setbacks in the course of the European Union (EU)'s institutional construction.

The treaty establishes important institutional changes, which aim to streamline the decision-making and bolster EU's influence on the world stage. It is hailed as the backbone of a more transparent, more effective and more democratic EU.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the 27-nation bloc, hailed the treaty's entry into force as "a new era for Europe."

RATIFICATION MARATHON

"This new treaty reminds me of a marathon, but a marathon with hurdles," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Oct. 29.

The treaty is a simplified version of a constitution treaty that was approved by EU leaders in 2004 and but aborted due to French and Dutch voters' rejection in 2005. It had to be ratified by all EU member states before it came into effect.

The treaty should have been put into force in January 2009, but it was postponed as Irish voters rejected it in June 2008 during the ratification process in member states.

The Irish people went back to the polls in October and overwhelmingly voted "yes."

The Czech Republic was the last member state that started the ratification process. Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a noted eurosceptic, secured an opt-out clause in an adhesion treaty.

Klaus said the exemption would guarantee that the Lisbon Treaty will not lead to the reassessment of the so-called Benes Decrees, which refers to a set of laws that allowed the expropriation of property owned by Germans who were evicted from Czechoslovakia after World War II.

Klaus finally signed the treaty on Nov. 3, removing the last barrier to the EU's plan to overhaul its institutions.