Treaties on ExcellentWiki - Legal Encyclopedia

The Treaty of Rome (1957)

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The Treaty of Rome, formally the Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community (TEEC), was signed on 25 March 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. It entered into force on 1 January 1958 and created the European Economic Community (EEC), establishing a common market and laying the foundation for what would become the European Union. The Treaty of Rome is one of the most significant international agreements of the twentieth century.

The Maastricht Treaty (1992)

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The Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, was signed on 7 February 1992 by the twelve Member States of the European Communities and entered into force on 1 November 1993. It created the European Union and fundamentally transformed the nature and scope of European integration, introducing political union alongside economic integration. The Maastricht Treaty represents the most ambitious step in European integration since the Treaty of Rome, creating a union that extended well beyond the original economic community.

The Treaty of Lisbon (2007)

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The Treaty of Lisbon, signed on 13 December 2007, entered into force on 1 December 2009. It amended the Maastricht Treaty and the Treaty of Rome without replacing them, providing the European Union with modernized institutions and enhanced decision-making capacity. Lisbon resolved the institutional impasse following the failure of the Constitutional Treaty and equipped the enlarged EU of 27 Member States to function effectively. It is the most recent major reform of the EU’s constitutional foundations and the legal basis for the current institutional architecture.

The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

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The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union is the EU’s legally binding human rights instrument. Proclaimed in 2000 and given binding legal effect by the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009, the Charter codifies the civil, political, economic, and social rights of EU citizens and residents. It applies to EU institutions and to Member States when implementing EU law. The Charter represents the culmination of the EU’s evolution from an economic community to a polity with constitutional fundamental rights protections.