European Political Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

European Political Economy - Essay Example For the purpose of research, I have used and analysed many literature reviews. The Lisbon Treaty was initially introduced to increase the coherence and the consistency of the external actions of the European Union. (The Lisbon Treaty) According to Langenhove (2008), the need for a treaty was felt after the last two enlargement processes of the EU in 2004 and 2007, whereby the member states increased from 15 to 27. The treaty consists of certain reforms that are aimed at making the European Union more democratic and efficient. The structural reforms of the EU, as Langenhove (2008) relates, consist of a new means of quantitative majority voting, a better distinction between the different competencies and an increased role for the national parliaments in the process of the co-decision when it comes to trading policies. Also it includes the idea that the European countries would be able to select their own president for the European Council. Lisbon Treaty is expected to affect the economic integration of the member states of the European Union. The external trade policy is one economic aspect that the treaty focuses on. According to Woolcock (2008) the external trade policy after the treaty would no longer be decided by mixed agreements or the individual national parliaments. Rather it would be a part of the EU’s external actions. The treaty also brings all the key aspects of the trade policy under the EU competence which means that the commission would be responsible for all the trade related policies. This power in the past was under the national parliaments. Woolcock (2008) argues that this would lead the member states to have unanimous decisions over the economic policies. The inclusion of the Foreign Direct Investment in the EU competence is also one of the major steps taken in the Lisbon Treaty which ensures that the member states will have a comprehensive approach to the trade and investment in the world