WUNRN
EUROPE - TREATY OF LISBON - FACTS -
GENDER PERSPECTIVE
Europe - Treaty of Lisbon:
Questions & Answers - Treaty of
Lisbon:
Europe National Ratifications -
Treaty of Lisbon
*Deposited - 23 Countries
*Ratified, not yet Deposited:
Germany & Poland
*Pending - Czech Republic
*Not Ratified - Ireland
Article
6, paragraph 1 of the Treaty of Lisbon requires that instruments of
ratification be deposited with the Government of Italy in order for the Treaty
to enter into force. Each country deposits the instrument of ratification after
its internal ratification process is finalized by all required state bodies
(parliament and the head of state)
In
order to enter into legal force, the Treaty of Lisbon must be ratified in all Member States. As this did not
happen as scheduled by the end of 2008, the Treaty will come into force on the
first day of the month following the last ratification.[17]
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Direct Link to Full Document:
WIDE
Publication - June 2008
´The
Treaty of Lisbon from a Gender Perspective: Change & Challenges
Authors:
Laura Bisio and Anna Cataldi
This
briefing paper presents the main innovations in terms of institutional changes,
policy perspectives and priorities that the Treaty of Lisbon is going to
introduce if the EU Member States ratify it. The analysis focuses, in
particular, on how the Treaty affects citizenship, human rights and gender equality.
It highlights: the need for the actual improvement of democratisation of the EU
institutional structure and of decision-making procedures; the potential lack
of coherence between the noticeably neo-liberal agenda and the formal
commitment in socially oriented policies; and the relative absence of a
gender-oriented perspective.
The paper is organised into four chapters and a section of final recommendations. Chapter 1 deals with the institutional changes that the Lisbon Treaty introduces, such as: the empowerment of the European Parliament, the reform of the Commission, the introduction of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and slight changes in the functioning of the European Council and the Council. It also describes the changes that will occur in the division of competences between the national Parliaments and the Union. It is envisaged that, in spite of the empowerment of the European Parliament, the main decision-making power will still lie in the hands of non-representative institutions such as the Commission, the Council and the European Council. Therefore, civil society should promote the use of the new democratic tools that have been introduced by the Treaty (the Rights of Citizens initiative, and the greater importance of the Parliament) and the creation of new paths of participation for European citizens.
Chapter 2 presents the priorities of the Treaty in terms of values and rights, especially those that are of interest for WIDE lobbying activity. The analysis shows that gender equality, development, human rights and citizenship rights are issues that the Treaty takes into account but, nevertheless, their actual implementation may be weak, since their related provisions are often vague or incoherent within the whole neo-liberal setting of the Treaty.Except for some provisions that directly address safeguarding women´s rights, the Treaty seems to lack a true gender perspective. For example, the provisions related to gender equality in the labour market have not been improved from the previous Treaty; in addition, some issues that are fundamental for women, such as contraception and abortion, are not mentioned at all in the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Chapter 3 examines the EU´s foreign and trade policy, external relations and humanitarian activity, as set out by the Treaty. It describes its market-oriented and liberalist trade activity, the military reinforcement the Treaty provides, and the EU´s commitment to humanitarian activities. As remarked in Chapter 2, here the contrast between liberalism and pro-development policies is evident.The proposal to privatise the main public services sector is a very important issue, since it potentially affects the living standards of not only the average consumer, but especially the weakest groups of society and women in particular. The market-oriented intellectual property safeguard strategy should be balanced with the objective of promoting the exchange of knowledge with developing countries.
Chapter 4 deals with past and present debate on the Treaty. It considers the controversies about the failure to approve the EU Constitution and the ongoing ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty, and it analyses the improvements the Treaty makes compared to the Constitution. Since the Treaty of Lisbon is not going to be approved directly by the European citizenship through referenda (besides the Irish referendum), civil society could produce more information to promote awareness about how the Treaty is going to hit or miss crucial targets.
Recommendations and suggestions about areas of potential intervention for WIDE are provided in the final section.
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