Paris, 3 December 2007 – The Assembly has just put together a more readable consolidated version of the Provisions concerning the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), including the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), arranged by topic, contained in the Treaty amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, known as the “Lisbon Treaty”.

The Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community (the Reform Treaty) was approved by the heads of state and government of the 27 EU member states in Lisbon on 18 October 2007 and is due to be signed in Lisbon on 13 December next. This treaty replaces the earlier ‘Draft Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe’, which was rejected following the referenda in both France and The Netherlands in May 2005. The aim is for the Reform Treaty to be ratified by the Member States before the European Parliament elections scheduled for June 2009.

The Nice Treaty for the moment continues to provide the basis for the EU’s activities under the ESDP. It was signed on 26 February 2001 and entered into force on 1 February 2003. Article 27 of the new Reform Treaty refers to provisions on the “Common Security and Defence Policy” (CSDP), formerly the “European Security and Defence Policy” (ESDP), and replaces Article 17 of the Treaty of Nice.

The provisions concerning the CFSP in Assembly Document (DG (2007) 7 Revised) provide the future legal basis for the EU’s activities in the field of the CFSP.
 
The President of the Assembly, French Senator Jean-Pierre MASSERET, will be presenting a report on the “The Reform Treaty and Europe’s security and defence” (Document C/1979) on behalf of the Political Committee during the plenary session, on Tuesday 4 December in the afternoon at the Palais d’Iéna in Paris.