The Treaty of Amsterdam in Historical Perspective: Introduction to the Symposium
FORDHAMINTERNATIONAL LAWJOURNAL
Fordham International Law Journal
-
1998
Article 2
Copyright c 1998 by the authors. Fordham International Law Journal is produced by The
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The Treaty of Amsterdam in Historical
Perspective: Introduction to the Symposium
Roger J. Goebel
On February 27-28, 1998, the Center on European Union Law of the Fordham Law School
was pleased to present a program, “The European Union and the United States: Constitutional
Systems in Evolution,” intended to provide a clear description of the impact of the Treaty of
Amsterdam upon the European Union (or “EU”), and to enable some valuable points of comparison
and contrast between constitutional and legal developments within the European Union and the
United States. This symposium issue of the Fordham International Law Journal publishes a series
of papers presented at the conference centering on the Treaty of Amsterdam, signed on October 2,
1997, and scheduled for complete ratification and entry into effect in 1999. All of the articles were
written by present or former officials of institutions of the European Union who either participated
in the preparation of the text of the Treaty of Amsterdam or are well-suited to analyze it. Let me
now make a few remarks situating the Treaty of Amsterdam within the context of the constitutional
evolution of the European Union. Not only is the study of the European Union one of the greatest
practical importance, in view of its major political and economic role on the world stage, but also
it is fascinating and rather elusive. The historical development of the European Union is complex,
representing a gradual expansion in scope and power through a number of stages, each of which
in turn is rather complicated and hard to assess.
Rogerj Goebel*
On February 27-28, 1998, the Center on European Union
Law of the Fordham Law School was pleased to present a
program, "The European Union and the United States:
Constitutional Systems in Evolution," intended to provide a clear
description of the impact of the Treaty of Amsterdam' upon the
European Union (or "EU"), and to enable some valuable points of
comparison and contrast between constitutional and legal
developments within the European Union and the United States.
The conference proceedings are to be published in a book by
Kluwer Law International later this year.
This symposium issue of the FordhamInternationalLaw
Journal publishes a series of papers presented at the conference
centering on the Treaty of Amsterdam, signed on October 2, 1997,
and scheduled for complete ratification and entry into effect in
1999. All of the articles were written by present or former
officials of institutions of the European Union who either
participated in the preparation of the text of the Treaty of Amsterdam
or are well-suited to analyze it.
Commissioner Marcelino Oreja, whose portfolio included a
direct responsibility for the Commission's participation in the
Turin Intergovernmental Conference, which drafted the Treaty
of Amsterdam, inaugurates the symposium with his reflections
on the achievements of the Treaty of Amsterdam, the prospects
of further enlargement of the European Union, and their
impact on relations between the European Union and the United
* Professor of Law and Director of the Center on European Union Law, Fordham
University School of Law.
1. Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties
establishing the European Communities and certain related acts, Oct. 2, 1997, O.J. C
340/1 (1997) (not yet ratified) [hereinafter Treaty of Amsterdam].
States. His paper is entitled: The Recent Evolution of the European
Union.
Five experts coming from each of the institutions have
provided articles intended to yield an analytical overview of the
Treaty of Amsterdam. Jean-Claude Piris, Director-General of the
Legal Service of the Council of the European Union and Legal
Advisor to the Intergovernmental Conference (or "IGC"),
collaborated with his Legal Service colleague, Giorgio Maganza, to
write The Treaty of Amsterdam: Overview and InstitutionalAspects.
This article provides a realistic, authoritative, and balanced
appraisal of the impact of the Treaty of Amsterdam on the EU
institutions and upon the scope of EU operations.
Michel Petite, a key Commission civil servant who
participated intimately in the IGC discussions, has provided an article,
The Commission's Role in the IGC's Draftingthe Treaty of Amsterdam,
that evaluates in a very frank manner the major issues and the
Commission's contributions to the efforts to resolve them.
Member of the European Parliament Laurens Jan Brinkhorst's
article, An Appraisalof the Treaty of Amsterdam from the Perspectiveof
a Member of the EuropeanParliament,provides a pragmatic critique
of the Treaty of Amsterdam's achievements. His comments not
only are flavored by his views as an Member of European
Parliament, but also benefit from his (...truncated)