Eastmead’s EU Rocket

Eastmead's EU Rocket-"Europa":
A Way of Explaining the Post-Lisbon EU Structure

Delivering a seminar for a Turkish audience-eight days into the new Lisbon Treaty-I wondered how to replace the "Greek Temple" diagram. A challenge on several fronts, as you may imagine. Lisbon gives us two principal treaties-the EU's values and principles in the TEU (Treaty on the European Union) and the ToFU (Treaty on the Functioning of the EU) which sets out in detail how the Union works its main policy areas.


Solution:
a rocket with a nose cone as the TEU, setting out the values/principles of the EU;

and a longer body of the "How/What/When" of the EU (the old Rome Treaty of 1957 as amended)

Together they make



But Lisbon also gives us-leaves us with-two other "parts" which both have treaty status:

• The other "Rome Treaty" of 1957, EURATOM, the better known European Atomic Energy Community and

• The Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR) elevated to Treaty status. Thus the CFR has equal value to-wait for it-the TEU, the ToFU, and EURATOM.

The solution?
A rocket with a nose cone (TEU), a body, and associated-but smaller-fins or stabilizers:


The Future?
I suspect that the EURATOM fin will be brought into the main body or fuselage of the ToFU at some later treaty re-visiting.
The CFR fin? I would bet it's going into the tip or nose cone of the TEU.

But can you imagine how any future British Government would handle the media fallout?

 

© Eastmead European Training 2009