Heads of state and government of the European Union (EU) member states on Thursday signed the Lisbon Treaty, which they hope can make decision-making more efficient.

 

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was the first leader to put his name on the treaty.

 

In a speech prior to the signing, Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, whose country holds the EU presidency, said the treaty will take the European project one step further and make the EU stronger.

 

"This is not a treaty for the past. This is a treaty for the future, a treaty that will make Europe more modern, more efficient and more democratic," he told other leaders in the magnificent Jeronimos Monastery on the Tagus River.

 

"We need a stronger union, stronger to meet the concerns of the citizens, stronger to promote the economy of Europe, and stronger to defend European values."

 

He said the treaty will also create conditions for the EU to have its voice heard in the world. "A more ambitious Europe is also the most important contribution that we can make today to a better world, because the world needs a strong Europe."

 

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said: "From the old continent, a new Europe is born."

 

With this treaty, the EU is preparing itself to serve its citizens better and address global issues, he said.

 

The treaty will reinforce the EU's capacity to act and the ability to achieve internal and external goals in an effective way, he said.

 

"It is the treaty of an enlarged Europe from the Mediterranean to the Baltic, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea," he said.

 

"For the first time, the countries that were once divided by a totalitarian curtain, are now united in support of a common treaty that they had themselves negotiated."

 

Barroso said the enlarged union gives new economic, political and strategic dimension to its member states.

 

Notably, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was the only head of state or government that was absent from the signing ceremony.

 

While the treaty was signed by two representatives -- three in the case of France -- in other member states, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband showed up alone at the ceremony.

 

Brown would arrived several hours late and put his name on the treaty separately. Brown was delayed by his appearance before a parliamentary committee.

 

Brown's unique arrangement had prompted criticism by the opposition Conservative Party, which had said Brown did not have the guts to sign the treaty in public, according to British media reports.

 

Brown faces enormous pressure to call a referendum on the text. His predecessor Tony Blair had promised a referendum on the EU Constitution. The referendum was scrapped after the constitution was vetoed by French and Dutch voters in 2005.

 

The Lisbon Treaty, which replaces the failed EU Constitution, provides for far-reaching changes in EU's institutions and decision making mechanisms.

 

It creates the post of a long-term president of the European Council, which comprises heads of state and government of the member states, in place of the current six-month rotation between member states.

 

The European Commission, the EU's executive body, will be downsized, with the total number of commissioners to be two-thirds of member states. Currently, each of the 27 member states appoints a member to the commission. The commission's president will have more powers though.

 

A new post of EU foreign policy chief will be created, which combines the duties of present foreign policy chief Javier Solana and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

 

To make decision making more effective, a double majority voting system -- approval by at least 55 percent of the number of member states representing at least 65 percent of EU's total population -- is introduced to the Council of the EU, a decision-making body composed of member states' ministers.

 

While unanimity is still required in certain areas, more policy areas will be governed by the double majority voting system, notably in justice and home affairs.

 

The treaty for the first time contains a clause to allow a member state to leave the union. It also creates a legal personality for the EU.

 

The treaty must now be ratified by each and every member states. Leaders hope that ratification can complete during 2008 so that it can enter into force in 2009, just in time for new elections in the European Parliament.

 

Up to now, Ireland is the only country that has announced a referendum for the text of the treaty, giving hopes that it may not repeat the path of the EU Constitution, which was rejected in French and Dutch referendums.

 

Irish voters, however, face great pressure as euroskeptics from across Europe are expected to flock to the island in order to campaign for a NO, an analyst has said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 14, 2007)