The ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon was officially completed by all member states of the European Union on 13 November 2009 when the Czech Republic deposited its instrument of ratification with the Italian government. The Lisbon Treaty came into force on the first day of the month following the depositionArticle 6, paragraph 1 of the Treaty of Lisbon requires that instruments of ratification issued by all member states be deposited with the Government of Italy in order for the treaty to enter into force. The instrument of ratification is a solemn document of international character, usually signed by the country's head of state, confirming to the other parties of the treaty that the state in question accepts the treaty, as signed by its representatives. Each country issues and deposits the instrument of ratification after its internal ratification process is finalised by all required state bodies, in accordance with each country's internal constitutional requirements. Deposition details of the last instrument of ratification with the government of Italy, which was 1 December 2009.The Treaty of Lisbon Article 6(2) of the Lisbon Treaty.
Most states ratified the treaty in parliamentary processes. The Republic of Ireland was the only member state to hold a referendum on the subject. In a first vote held on 12 June 2008 (the first Lisbon referendum) the treaty was rejected; however a second vote was held on 2 October 2009 (the second Lisbon referendum) and the treaty was approved.
At a glance
The table below shows the ratification progress in European Union member states. Hungary was the first member state where the treaty was approved by a national parliament on 17 December 2007. Note that the assent of the head of state represents the approval of the parliamentary procedure, while the deposition of the instrument of ratification refers to the last step of ratification, which might require a separate signature of the head of state on the instrument of ratification for it to be deposited. For the discussion of the specific legal situation in countries which have encountered obstacles in the ratification process, see relevant section below the table.
Signatory Conclusion date Institution AB Deposited Ref. 9 April 2008 National Council 151 27 5 13 May 2008 24 April 2008 Federal Council 58 4 0 28 April 2008 Presidential Assent Granted 6 March 2008 Senate 48 8 1 15 October 2008 10 April 2008 Chamber of Representatives 116 11 7 19 June 2008 Royal Assent Granted 14 May 2008 Walloon Parliament (regional)(community matters) 56 2 4 14 May 2008 53 3 2 19 May 2008 German-speaking Community 22 2 1 20 May 2008 French Community 67 0 3 27 June 2008 Brussels Regional Parliament 65 10 1 27 June 2008 Brussels United Assembly 66 10 0French language group: 56 yes, 5 no; Dutch language group: 10 yes, 5 no; 10 July 2008 Flemish Parliament (regional)(community matters) 76 21 2 78 22 3 11 July 2008 COCOF Assembly 52 5 0 21 March 2008 National Assembly 195 15 30 28 April 2008Press release of the National Assembly of Bulgaria 28 March 2008 Presidential Assent GrantedPublication in the Official Journal of Bulgaria 3 July 2008 House of Representatives 31 17 1 26 August 2008AFP: "Cyprus ratifies EU treaty" . Retrieved 3 July 2008. 19 July 2008 Presidential Assent Granted 18 February 2009 Chamber of Deputies 125 61 11 13 November 2009 6 May 2009 Senate 54 20 5 3 November 2009 Presidential Assent Granted 24 April 2008 Parliament 90 25 0 29 May 2008 30 April 2008 Royal Assent Granted 11 June 2008 Riigikogu 91 1 9 23 September 2008Parliament of Estonia 19 June 2008 Presidential Assent Granted 11 June 2008 Parliament 151 27 21 30 September 2008Parliament of Finland 12 September 2008 Presidential Assent GrantedFinland ratifies EU's Lisbon Treaty 7 February 2008 National Assembly 336 52 22 14 February 2008Assemblée nationale – Analyse du scrutin n°83 – Séance du : 07/02/2008 7 February 2008 Senate 265 42 13Sénat – Compte rendu analytique officiel du 7 février 2008 13 February 2008 Presidential Assent GrantedOfficial Journal of the French Republic, 14 February 2008, page 2712 24 April 2008 Bundestag 515 58 1 25 September 2009 23 May 2008 Bundesrat 65 0 4 8 October 2008 Presidential Assent Granted 11 June 2008 Parliament 250 42 8 12 August 2008 17 December 2007 National Assembly 325 5 14 6 February 2008 20 December 2007 Presidential Assent Granted 29 April 2008 Dáil Éireann (1st ref. bill – proposed const. amendment) Passed 23 October 2009 9 May 2008 Senate (1st ref. bill – proposed const. amendment) Passed 12 June 2008 First Referendum 47% 53% N/A 8 July 2009 Dáil Éireann (2nd ref. bill – proposed const. amendment) Passed 9 July 2009 Senate (2nd ref. bill – proposed const. amendment) Passed 2 October 2009 Second Referendum 67% 33% N/A 15 October 2009 Presidential Assent (constitutional amendment) Granted 21 October 2009 Dáil Éireann (statute bill) Passed 22 October 2009 Senate (statute bill) Passed 27 October 2009 Presidential Assent (statute) Granted 23 July 2008 Senate 286 0 0 8 August 2008 31 July 2008 Chamber of Deputies 551 0 0 2 August 2008 Presidential Assent Granted 8 May 2008 Saeima 70 3 1 16 June 2008 28 May 2008 Presidential Assent Granted 8 May 2008 Seimas 83 5 23 26 August 2008 14 May 2008 Presidential Assent Granted 29 May 2008 Chamber of Deputies 47 1 3 21 July 2008EUbusiness.com – Luxembourg is 15th EU state to ratify treaty in parliament 3 July 2008 Ducal Assent Granted 29 January 2008 House of Representatives 65 0 0 6 February 2008 5 June 2008 House of Representatives 111390 11 September 2008It follows from the official parliamentary report that following the vote, the chairwoman has stated (translation) : "I notice that the Members of the parliamentary groups of PvdA, GroenLinks, D66, VVD, ChristenUnie and CDA who are present have voted in favour and that those of the other parliamentary groups have voted against; the Bill has therefore been adopted." 8 July 2008 Senate 60 150 "Nederland ratificeert Verdrag van Lissabon (video)", 8 July 2008 10 July 2008 Royal Assent Granted 1 April 2008 Sejm 384 56 12 12 October 2009 2 April 2008 Senate 74 17 6 9 April 2008 Presidential Assent Granted 23 April 2008 Assembly of the Republic 208 21 0 17 June 2008 9 May 2008 Presidential Assent Granted 4 February 2008 Parliament 387 1 1 11 March 2008Pursuant to the Constitution, the ratification occurred in a joint session of both houses.Romanian parliament ratifies Lisbon Treaty 6 February 2008 Presidential Assent Granted 10 April 2008 National Council 103 5 1 24 June 2008 The treaty of Lisbon was ratified thanks to opposition party 12 May 2008 Presidential Assent Granted 29 January 2008 National Assembly 74 6 0 24 April 2008 7 February 2008 Presidential Assent Granted 26 June 2008 Congress of Deputies 322 6 2 8 October 2008 15 July 2008 Senate 232 6 2 30 July 2008 Royal Assent Granted 20 November 2008 Parliament 243 39 13 10 December 2008 Ja till Lissabonfördraget, TT via Aftonbladet, 20 November 2008. 11 March 2008 House of Commons 346 206 16 July 2008EU treaty bill clears the Commons 18 June 2008 House of Lords PassedThe House of Lords approved the treaty bill without a division, after a procedural motion to defer consideration of the bill because of the negative Irish referendum on the Treaty was defeated by 277 votes to 184.House of Lords debates, vol. 702 cols. 1030-1099 (18 June 2008), the vote on procedural motion is at col. 1069. 19 June 2008 Royal Assent GrantedLords HansardWritten Ministerial Statement by the Minister for Europe, Jim Murphy MP, confirming the UK's RatificationBBC News article detailing the signature of the British instrument of ratification by Queen Elizabeth II and Foreign Secretary David Miliband and the deposition of the document in RomeTurnout: 1,621,037 (53.13%); 6,171 (0.4%) spoilt; 752,451 (46.6%) for, 862,415 (53.4%) against.Turnout: 1,816,098 (59.0%); 7,224 (0.4%) spoilt; 1,214,268 (67.1%) for, 594,606 (32.9%) against.
Obstacles encountered
Czech Republic
Both houses of the Czech parliament have ratified the treaty, in February and May 2009. However, President Václav Klaus was opposed to the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty at that time. He called for the process to be brought to an end and stated that he was in "no hurry" to ratify the document. In September 2008, he had also stated that he would not sign the treaty until Ireland had ratified it.
Prior to that, President Klaus stated that he was awaiting the verdict of the Constitutional Court concerning a complaint submitted by senators against certain parts of the treaty. The Court dismissed this complaint on 26 November 2008. However, the senators proceeded to request the Constitutional Court to assess the treaty as a whole. On 29 September 2009 a group of Czech senators lodged a fresh complaint with the Constitutional Court. According to Czech Constitution, the treaty cannot be ratified until a ruling of the Constitutional Court is delivered. See Article 87.2.
Beside the constitutional challenge president Klaus, notwithstanding Czech parliament approval of the treaty, asked for an opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. He said that, were the charter to gain full legal strength, it would jeopardise the Beneš decrees, and in particular the decree that confiscated, without giving compensation, the properties of Germans and Hungarians during the Second World War. These decrees are still part of the domestic law of both Czech Republic and Slovakia (the latter not having requested any exemption from the charter). President Klaus said that this opt out is therefore a necessary condition for him to sign the document. This argument had been already invoked by right-wing populists,Benes Decrees , EurActiv when both countries were ready to accede to the European Union. In 2002 the EU Commission asked a legal opinion on compatibility of the decrees with the EU treaties. In the opinion it was argued that, were the Beneš decrees enacted today, they would breach EU treaties, but since they were enacted in 1945 their status would have been unaffected. The opinion quotes a sentence on this subject by the European Court of Human Rights in order to explain that, even if the EU, as the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, recognises the right to ownership as a fundamental right, the treaties cannot have a retroactive effect:
In the opinion it's also noted that, even if those clauses concerning property rights were enforceable, EU would not have any say on this as the Treaty establishing the European Community explicitly states (art. 295) that
This clause has been slightly reworded by the Lisbon Treaty in order to make it refer to both the TEU and TFEU treaties and is going to become article 345 of the TFEU.
On 2 October 2009, Ireland voted for the treaty in the second referendum, thereby removing one of Klaus's earlier objections to him signing the treaty. On 12 October 2009, the Czech government agreed to adopt Klaus's demand as its own assuming that the president would sign if they successfully negotiated the opt-out, and if the Constitutional Court ruled that the treaty was compatible with the Czech constitution. The opt-out was agreed by other member states of the EU in the European Council on 29 October 2009.
On 3 November 2009, the Czech Constitutional Court approved the treaty, clearing the way for President Klaus to sign it, which he did that afternoon. The Czech instrument of ratification was then deposited with the Italian Government on 13 November 2009.
Germany
Germany ratified the Lisbon Treaty in September 2009 after having placed on hold some fifteen months earlier.(German) Köhler stoppt EU-Vertrag , Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 30 June 2008. Both houses of the bicameral German parliament approved of the Treaty of Lisbon 24 April and 23 May 2008, and the German President had signed the ratification bill into law some months later.