EU Reform Treaty: Update (1)

Last Monday marked the opening of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) 2007 [website, in English]. Goal of the IGC 2007 is to further implement the Reform Treaty proposed earlier this month [see previous post]. A text of the Draft Reform Treaty can be found here [treaty, in French]. During the first two sessions of the IGC 2007, the group of judicial experts drafted an agenda which can be found here [agenda, in French]. The proposed schedule provides for 18 sessions that shall take place in blocks and shall conclude on September 13, 2007.

The schedule seems rather ambitious given that the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anna E. Fotyga, has already issued an opening statement where she stresses, inter alia, that her country wants the retention of the current voting system (as opposed to the double-majority system) during the transition period to be automatic upon request. Also, Poland reserved the right to accede to the protocol that prevents the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights from becoming binding in the United Kingdom. Ms. Anna E. Fotyga's statement is available here [text, in English].

Coverage and discussion of the Reform Treaty process from a probably more "reformer-driven perspective" can be found at the blog of former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing [in French].