The European Treaty Amendment for the Creation of a Financial Stability Mechanism

Abstract

Som svar på den finanskris som bröt ut i Grekland, beslutade Europeiska Rådet att genom en ändring i Fördraget om Europeiska Unionens Funktionssätt tillåta införandet av en stabilitetsmekanism för att garantera stabiliteten i euro-området. Det är första gången man har utnyttjat ett av de två förfarandena för ”förenklad” fördragsändring som infördes med Lissabonfördraget. Den här analysen beskriver förfarandena, granskar skälen bakom Europeiska Rådets beslut samt diskuterar de steg som hittills har tagits i fördragsändringsarbetet. Analysen ingår i forskningsprojektet 'Långsiktiga effekter av den ekonomiska krisen'.

On 25 March 2011, the European Council adopted a decision aiming at the amendment of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union by the addition of a new paragraph to Article 136 of that Treaty. The additional paragraph, consisting of two short sentences, runs as follows: “The Member States whose currency is the euro may establish a stability mechanism to be activated if indispensable to safeguard the stability of the euro area as a whole. The granting of any required financial assistance under the mechanism will be made subject to strict conditionality.” This is the first use made of one of the two ‘simplified’ Treaty revision procedures which were created by the Lisbon Treaty. In this paper, the Lisbon reform of the Treaty revision procedures will first be described in general terms. Two other initiatives for post-Lisbon treaty revision will then be mentioned; both relate to the composition of the European Parliament and do not involve the use of the simplified revision procedure. The paper will then explain the reasons why the European Council considered it necessary to amend the TFEU in order to contribute to the smooth functioning of the Economic and Monetary Union. Finally, there will be a discussion of the various steps taken so far in this amendment process which is scheduled to be finished by January 2013, after approval of the amendment from the side of each of the 27 EU states.