Guide to the Amsterdam Treaty - Part 8

8. Further explanations

A. Europe-15 ratification process in dates

In January 1998 most Member States were planning to adopt the Amsterdam Treaty
by parliamentary (P) approval only, but referendums (R) are scheduled for 1998 in
three Member States, as shown in the table below.

Go to the top

B. Referring to the correct Treaty - a brief overview

• the Treaty on European Union – EU (Maastricht, 1992)
• the Treaty establishing the European Community – EC (Rome, 1957)
• the Treaty establishing the Coal and Steel Community – ECSC (Paris, 1951)
• the Treaty establishing the Atomic Energy Community – Euratom (Rome, 1957)

The Treaty on European Union (TEU) includes the other treaties. The Treaty on European Union was created by the Maastricht Treaty (1992) and amended by the Amsterdam Treaty (1997). This distinction is important for readers of this guide, since it is the changes brought in by Amsterdam Treaty that are in focus.

The Maastricht Treaty included seven titles:

• Title I – Common provisions (Articles A-F)
• Title II – Provisions amending the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community with a view to establishing the European Community
  (Articles 1-248 + protocols)
• Title III – Provisions amending the Treaty establishing the European
  Coal and Steel Community
• Title IV – Provisions amending the Treaty establishing
  the European Atomic Energy Community
• Title V – Provisions on a common foreign and security policy (Article J)
• Title VI – Provisions on cooperation in the field of justice affairs (Article K)
• Title VII – Final provisions (Articles L-S)

In addition a number of protocols/declarations were added.

These seven titles are referred to as the Treaty on European Union and include the Treaty establishing the European Community as amended by the Maastricht Treaty (Title II). Title II is also commonly (though not in the legal text) known as the first pillar of the TEU along with Titles III and IV. Pillar II (Title V) and pillar III (Title VI) make out the other two. To complete the image of a "Greek temple", the roof on these pillars are Title I and VII.

The Amsterdam Treaty itself contains 15 articles, mostly concerned with amendments to the four existing EU treaties. Basically, it brought about four types of change:

• amended some articles
• added some articles
• removed lapsed provisions
• renumbered all the articles

Because the Treaty article numbering was becoming increasingly complicated, one thing the Amsterdam Treaty did was to suggest renumbering the articles. Where the Amsterdam Treaty actually added articles to the TEC or TEU, rather than amended them, these were given article numbers following the old Treaty numbering. These new articles are also to be renumbered when the Amsterdam Treaty is ratified.

When the Amsterdam Treaty is ratified, the articles will have the following structure:

• Title I – Articles 1-7
• Title II – Article 8
• Title III – Article 9
• Title IV – Article 10
• Title V – Articles 11-28
• Title VI – Articles 29-42
• Title VII – Articles 43-45
• Title VIII – Articles 46-53

Title II, including Article 8 in the TEU as amended by the Amsterdam Treaty, contains the TEC. The TEC has also been renumbered and now contains Articles 1-314.

This means that there will for instance be four Articles 13 when the Amsterdam Treaty is ratified. Art 13 TEU, for instance, deals with the role of the European Council in Common Foreign and Security Policy. Article 13 TEC deals with non-discrimination (previously Article 6a TEC as added by the Amsterdam Treaty). There will also be Articles 13 in the ECSC and Euratom.

In this Guide, the articles referred to belong to the Treaty establishing the European Community unless otherwise specified. Also, we have used the new article numbers to familiarise readers with the new numbering.

Go to the top

C. Table of cross-references of renumbered articles with previous articles, relevant to the EDF guide

Articles belong to the TEC unless otherwise specified.

* Added by the Amsterdam Treaty

Go to the top

D. References

D.1. Documents of the European Union institutions

a) Council of the European Union

Council Resolution on the Equality of Opportunity for people with disabilities.
20 December 1996. Official Journal C 12, 13.01.1997.

b) European Commission

Commission Communication on Equality of Opportunity for Persons with Disabilities: A new European disability strategy. COM (96) 406

European Social Policy – A way forward for the Union. A White Paper.
COM (94) 333

Evaluation report of the HELIOS II Programme

c) European Parliament

Report on the intergovernmental conference

Report on the Treaty of Amsterdam, A4-0347/97 (rapporteurs: Iסigo Mendez de Vigo and Dimitrios Tsasos)

Report on the equality of opportunities for people with disabilities, A40044-97 (Barbara Schmidbauer report)

Report on the rights of disabled people, A40391-96 (Mary Banotti report)

d) Other

The Report of the Reflection Group on the IGC: A Strategy for Europe.
6 December 1995. SN 520/95

e) Treaty texts

Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts.

Single European Act

f) Directives

Council Directive 91/263/EEC of 29 April 1991 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning telecommunications terminal equipment, including the mutual recognition of their conformity, Official Journal L 128, 23.05.1991

Council Directive 93/68/EEC of 22 July 1993 amending Directives 87/404/EEC (simple pressure vessels), 88/378/EEC (safety of toys), 89/106/EEC (construction products), 89/336/EEC (electromagnetic compatibility), 89/392/EEC (machinery), 89/686/EEC (personal protective equipment), 90/384/EEC (non-automatic weighing instruments), 90/385/EEC (active implantable medicinal devices), 90/396/EEC (appliances burning gaseous fuels), 91/263/EEC (telecommunications terminal equipment), 92/42/EEC (new hot-water boilers fired with liquid or gaseous fuels) and 73/23/EEC (electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits), Official Journal L 220, 30.8.1993

Council Directive 93/104/EC of 23 November 1993 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time, Official Journal L 307, 13.12.1993

Council Directive 94/45/EC of 22 September 1994 on the establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees, Official Journal L 254 , 30.09.1994

European Parliament and Council Directive 95/16/EC of 29 June 1995 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to lifts, Official Journal L 213, 7.9.1995

Council Directive 96/34/EC of 3 June 1996 on the framework agreement on parental leave concluded by UNICE, CEEP and the ETUC, Official Journal L 145, 19.6.1996

Directive 97/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 October 1997 amending Directive 93/16/EEC to facilitate the free movement of doctors and the mutual recognition of their diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications, Official Journal L 291, 24.10.1997

Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive relating to special provisions for vehicles used for the carriage of passengers comprising more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat and amending Council Directive 70/156/EEC, Official Journal C 17 , 20.1.1998

Council Directive 97/81/EC of 15 December 1997 concerning the Framework Agreement on part-time work concluded by UNICE, CEEP and the ETUC, Official Journal L 014, 20.1.1998

D.2. Other sources

Resolution from the European Disabled People's Parliament on 3 December 1993.

European Day of Disabled Persons 1995. Disabled persons' status in the European Treaties: Invisible citizens.

European Day of Disabled Persons 1996. How can disabled persons in the European Union achieve equal rights as citizens? The legal and economic implications of a non discrimination clause in the Treaty of European Union. A report by the legal and economic expert working group: Lisa Waddington, Aart Hendriks, Tom McCarthy and John Wall.

Invisible Citizens - The IGC Update Newsletter May 96-March 97

Go to the top

E. Abbreviations

CEEP Centre européen des Entreprises publiques

CMLR Common Market Law Review

DSI De Samvirkende Invalideorganisationer (DK)

EC European Community

ECJ European Court of Justice

ECR European Court Reports

EDF European Disability Forum

EIB European Investment Bank

EP European Parliament

ETUC European Trade Union Confederation

HELIOS Community Action Programme for
"Handicapped Europeans living independently in an open society"

IGC Intergovernmental conference

NGO Non-governmental organisation

QMV Qualified majority voting

TEC Treaty establishing the European Community

TEU Treaty on European Union

UNICE Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe

Go to the top

F. Biographies of contributors

a) Ballesteros, Ángel

Ángel Ballesteros holds a master's degree in law from Harvard Law School (USA) and a master's degree in European Community law from the Université de la Sorbonne (France). He currently works as adviser in European legal matters at ADB Consulting, and has undertaken academic research in USA civil rights law and European intellectual property law, besides writing reports for various international organisations.

b) Hendriks, Aart

Aart Hendriks is lecturer in health law at the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) and research associate attached to the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights at Utrecht University. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Dutch Council of People with Disabilities.

c) Stevens, Helga

Helga Stevens holds a master's degree in law from the University of California at Berkley, California (USA) and a Licenciat in law from the Faculty of Law of the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). She is currently Attorney at Claes and Partners. She has recently, as project leader, finalised a Europe-wide project on Sign Language at the European Union of the Deaf (EUD) and has a long experience of various activities in the deaf people's movement.

d) Quinn, Gerard

Gerard Quinn is a graduate of the National University of Ireland and Harvard Law School. He has been on long-term leave of absence from his university in Ireland since 1995. He spent 1996 working with the European Commission (DGV.3) and is currently Director of Research at the Irish Law Reform Commission.

e) Waddington, Lisa

Lisa Waddington, legal editor and main contributor to this Guide, graduated in law and politics from the University of Birmingham (United Kingdom, 1989) and holds a Ph.D. in law from the European University Institute in Florence (Italy, 1993). In addition she has been a visiting scholar at Georgetown University, Washington DC and has worked at the European Commission (DG V - Disability Unit). She is presently a lecturer in European Community Law at Maastricht University (Netherlands).

f) Wall, John

John A. Wall, CBE, MA (Oxon). Totally blind since age eight. Qualified as solicitor in England in 1954. First blind person to be appointed to judiciary (Deputy Chancery Master) in 1990. Chairman of the Royal National Institute for the Blind since 1990. President of the European Blind Union since 1996. Chairman of the UK Disability Forum for Europe since 1993.

Go to the top

G. Notes

1. Article 2 of the Agreement on Social Policy also addresses equality between men and women with regard to labour market opportunities and treatment at work.
   
2. Revised international Code of Good Clinical Practice (1997), published in International Digest of Health Legislation 1997; 48 (2): 231-234.
   
3. Michael O'Neill, Fundamental Rights and the European Union, in Irish Human Rights Yearbook 1995, Gerard Quinn (ed.), Round Hall, p. 67.
   
4. Alain Van Hamme, Human Rights and the Treaty of Rome, in Human rights,
   A European Perspective, Liz Heffernan, ed., Round Hall Press, p. 70.
   
5. Alain van Hamme, op. cit.., p. 70.
   
6. Textual windows, of sorts, onto general principles are contained in Articles 164, 175 and 215.
   
7. Case 11/70 Internationale Handelgesellschaft v Einfuhr und Vorratstelle für Getreide und Futtermittel [1970] ECR 1125. CMLR 255.
   
8. Id. at para 4.
   
9. Case 29/69 Stauder v City of Ulm [1970] ECR 419. CMLR 112.
   
10. Case 4/73, Nold v Commission [1974] 2 CMLR 338.
    
11. See e.g. Case 152 etc./81, Ferrario [1983] ECR 2357 at 2367.
    
12. Article 6 - to become Article 12 in new Treaty.
    
13. Article 119 - to become Article 141 in new Treaty.
    
14. Advocate-Generals have the task of advising the Court on the judgment it should reach. Advocate-Generals’ opinions are frequently (but not always) followed.
    
15. Opinion of Advocate-General Elmer in Case C-249/96 Lisa Jacqueline Grant v South West Trains Ltd. Although this specific case was eventually lost, the ruling refers to the Amsterdam Treaty not yet being ratified.
    
16. The sections on Agenda 2000 and the Employment Title can be found in full in EQUATE No. 2 - March 1998.