engleski

The Question of Changes in the Structure of the European Union – the Elimination of Three Pillars

When the European Union was brought into being, the founders of the Maastricht Treaty (7th February 1992) decided that its structure should include the existing European Communities, supplemented by Common Foreign and Security Policy and Justice and Home Affairs (now Police and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters). This was the way of the connection of two forms of intergovernmental cooperation to the Communities. It should be underlined that at the time of the Maastricht Intergovernmental Conference there had been awareness that this result could be attained within a single legal entity and a single Treaty (the Treaty establishing the European Community), which would have had the advantage of limiting the negative effects of a division. However, such a solution could not be agreed upon at that time due to the strict opposition from the United Kingdom, France and Denmark. Thus, the “ pillar structure” of the European Union was adopted as a compromise between the twelve Member States which resulted in a rather complex solution. Consequently, this was one of the questions which was taken into account in the debate on the European Union reform. This chapter of the book analyses the provisions of Nice and Laeken Declarations as well as the regulations of the Constitutional Treaty concerning the structure of the European Union. In order to understand the changes proposed in the Treaty, first the basic differences between three pillars are presented. The chapter concludes with some suggestions what can be done if the Constitutional Treaty is not ratified.

Structure of the European Union; Nice Declaration; Laeken Declaration

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