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The radical changes taking place in the international scene during the late 1980s have presented the European Communities with important new challenges. The twelve Member States agreed that the only way to respond effectively to this new situation was to speed up the European integration process, and in December 1990 two Intergovernmental Conferences were inaugurated, focusing respectively on the development of an Economic and Monetary Union and a Political Union. It was the difficult task of the Luxembourg and Dutch Presidencies to channel the often very diverging positions of the different actors in the process into one coherent set of amendments to the Treaties forming the European Communities. This publication examines the positions which the different Member States, the Commission and the European Parliament have been defending in the Intergovernmental Conference on Political Union and more particularly with regard to one of the most sensitive topics under discussion, namely the development of a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The introduction places the debate on the development of a Political Union and a CFSP in an historical perspective and gives an overview of the progression of the negotiations. The concluding chapter presents a general framework for better understanding of the course and results of the negotiations, and a critical evaluation of the outcome. The annexes reproduce the main proposals on the development of a CFSP submitted to the Conference

"Budgetary Treaties and European Union Politics" published on by Oxford University Press.

"The Merger Treaty: Creating a Single Commission and Council of the European Communities" published on by Oxford University Press.

"The Nice Treaty: Reforming European Union Institutions in Anticipation of Eastern Enlargements" published on by Oxford University Press.

"The Founding Treaties of the European Union and Their Reform" published on by Oxford University Press.

Este artículo plantea una serie de interrogantes sobre la actual situación de la integración europea. Estudia la ampliación de los miembros de la UE y su alcance funcional, y lo asocia con los esfuerzos por incrementar la capacidad institucional de la UE. Tras de la ampliación con los países del Este en 2004 y 2007, y la adopción del Tratado de Lisboa (2007) que entró en vigor en 2009, es hora de preguntarse dónde estamos y dónde deberíamos estar. Un tema crucial es la crisis de la zona euro. ¿Nos va a aportar la actual improvisación las suficientes medidas para sacarnos de la crisis? ¿hay suficiente pensamiento estratégico y liderazgo en la UE? El liderazgo alemán centrado en la austeridad parece algo desubicado. La propuesta para más Europa en forma de unión política, fiscal y bancaria parece ahora el camino a seguir. Pero ¿cuántos estados de la UE y de la zona euro serán capaces de moverse en esa dirección? En el futuro podríamos tener más integración diferenciada o geometría variable. ; This article asks a number of questions about the current stage of European integration. It traces past expansion of functional scope and membership of the EU and links these changes with efforts to increase the institutional capacity of the EU. After the big eastern enlargements in 2004 and 2007 and the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty in 2007 and its entry into force in 2009 it is time to ask: where are we and where may we be going? A central issue is the eurozone crisis. Will the current muddling through add up to enough measures to pull us out of the crisis? Is there enough strategic thinking and leadership in the EU? German leadership with focus on austerity seems somewhat misplaced. Proposals for ¿more Europe¿ in the form of banking, fiscal and political union, now appears to be the way forward. But how many member states of the EU ¿and eurozone¿ will be able to move in that direction? It looks as we may have more differentiated integration or ¿variable geometry¿ in the future.

Résumé Cet article analyse la formation du traité de Lisbonne, en y considérant le rôle des États membres et les présidences allemande et portugaise. Ensuite, il identifie les choix institutionnels les plus importants du traité et comment ces changements peuvent affecter les politiques majeures de l'Union. Enfin, l'auteur cherche à évaluer les changements. Même s'ils ne sont pas révolutionnaires, ces changements devraient contribuer à créer une union plus efficace et légitime. Une limitation importante du traité tient à ce que la politique étrangère et de sécurité reste intergouvernementale, malgré l'abolition formelle de la structure des piliers.