Jeronimos Monastery - What Does Treaty of Lisbon Have to Do With Lisbon and Portugal ?

[Nagarjuna]

Jerónimos Monastery -
The house for the Hieronymite monks was built on the same site of the
Ermida do Restelo, a hermitage that was founded by Henry the Navigator
at about 1450. It was at this hermitage, that was already in
disrepair, that Vasco da Gama and his men spent the night in prayer
before departing for India in 1497

What Does European Union and Treaty of Lisbon Have to Do With Lisbon
and Portugal ?

Dear All,
The Treaty of Lisbon is due to come into force on 01 December 2009.
It will herald the creation of a supra state of Europe composed of 27
small European Nation States who have decided that they must NOT be
marginalized in the rest of the world and especially in the capitals
of existing and emerging world powers.
The real agenda of world governance in 21st century begins now with
G-20, Washington and European Union.
What does this mean for you and for me ?
Good question !
Maybe Shri Anand Sharma, P Chidambaram and ManMohan Singh, the real
movers and shakers of the UPA government, will be ready with some
answers for the Indian electorate when the NEXT General Elections
comes near.
As for NOW, we have to find some answers on OUR OWN.
Regards,
Nagarjuna
Start reading up on your Wikipedia now. Here are some interesting
links which may help you get upto speed on the history of small
European nation states, the history of European ideas, the agenda that
Europe has been setting for the world at large since early 15th
century.
Open up your HISTORY BOOKS fast. You will need your History Books in
the 21st century.
And you are better off IF your history books are written in Hindi,
Assamese, Punjabi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Gujarati.
Do you have your HISTORY BOOKS ready ?
Start by reading up on Lisbon and Copenhagen and then on to Paris,
Berlin, Geneva, Rome, Athens, Madrid and London.

At the meeting of the European Council in October 2007, Portugal
insisted that the Treaty (then called the 'Reform Treaty') be signed
in Lisbon, the Portuguese capital. This request was granted, and the
Treaty was thus to be called the Treaty of Lisbon, in line with the
tradition of European Union treaties. The Portuguese presidency was
appointed to the job of organising the programme for a signing
ceremony.[15]

The signing of the Treaty of Lisbon took place in Lisbon, Portugal on
13 December 2007. The Government of Portugal, by virtue of holding
Presidency of the Council of the European Union at the time, arranged
a ceremony inside the 15th century Jerónimos Monastery, the same place
Portugal's treaty of accession to the European Union (EU) was signed
in 1985.[16] Representatives from the 27 EU member states were
present, and signed the Treaty as plenipotentiaries, marking the end
of treaty negotiations. In addition, for the first time an EU treaty
was also signed by the presidents of the three main EU institutions.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom did not take part in
the main ceremony, and instead signed the treaty separately a number
of hours after the other delegates. A requirement to appear before a
committee of British MPs was cited as the reason for his absence.

Regards,
Nagarjuna
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperialism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-colonialism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation_state
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Lisbon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jer%C3%B3nimos_Monastery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenicia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_discovery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Enlightenment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_%C3%81lvares_Cabral
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambique#Swahili_and_Portuguese_rule


The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an
international agreement signed in Lisbon on 13 December 2007 designed
to change the workings of the European Union (EU). Having been
ratified by all EU member states, the treaty will enter into force on
1 December 2009. The treaty amended the Treaty on European Union (TEU,
Maastricht; 1992) and the Treaty establishing the European Community
(TEC, Rome; 1957). In the process, the TEC was renamed to Treaty on
the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

Prominent changes included more qualified majority voting in the
Council of Ministers, increased involvement of the European Parliament
in the legislative process through extended codecision with the
Council of Ministers, eliminating the pillar system and the creation
of a President of the European Council with a term of two and a half
years and a High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and
Security Policy to present a united position on EU policies. The
Treaty of Lisbon will also make the Union's human rights charter, the
Charter of Fundamental Rights, legally binding.

The stated aim of the treaty is "to complete the process started by
the Treaty of Amsterdam [1997] and by the Treaty of Nice [2001] with a
view to enhancing the efficiency and democratic legitimacy of the
Union and to improving the coherence of its action."[1] Opponents of
the Treaty of Lisbon, such as the British think tank Open Europe and
former Danish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Jens-Peter
Bonde, argued that it would centralise the EU,[2] and weaken democracy
by moving power away from national electorates.[3]

Negotiations to modify EU institutions began in 2001, resulting first
in the European Constitution, which failed due to rejection by French
and Dutch voters in 2005. The Constitution's replacement, the Lisbon
Treaty, was originally intended to have been ratified by all member
states by the end of 2008. This timetable failed, primarily due to the
initial rejection of the Treaty in 2008 by the Irish electorate, a
decision which was reversed in a second referendum in 2009.