In June 2009 the Institute of European Public Law of the University of Hull assembled a range of experts in relevant fields to offer papers and reach some consensus on what has been achieved in the EU legal order and what the future holds for that order given local tensions and global uncertainty.

The implementation of the Lisbon Treaty is profoundly changing many areas of EU law and policy. This volume gathers leading specialists in the field to analyse the implementation process and the directions of legal reform post-Lisbon, situating the Lisbon reforms in the broader context of on-going policy programmes.

Many of the most controversial areas of reform initiated by the Lisbon Treaty were not negotiated in the Treaty itself, but left to be resolved during its implementation. Since the Treaty's entry into force, the implementation process has already had a profound impact on many areas of EU law and policy, and consolidated new areas of power, such as over foreign investment. This collection gathers leading specialists in the field to analyse the Treaty's implementation and the directions of legal reform post-Lisbon. Drawing on a range of expertise to assess and comment on the Treaty, the contributors include both academics and practitioners involved in negotiating and implementing the Treaty. Focusing on the central issues and changes resulting from the Lisbon Treaty, the contributors examine the Treaty in the broader background of how the EU, and EU law in particular, has been developing in recent years and provide a contextual understanding of the future direction of EU law in the post-Lisbon era.

'After Lisbon the EU has reached a new precarious stage in its development. New institutions have been created and policies reformed. The different chapters of this book cover the most important innovations, while providing a fresh critical assessment of the shortcomings of the present arrangements. Works are always in progress at the EU site and the authors provide the future architects of this grand building as well as the academic community with much food for thought.' – Roberto Caranta, University of Turin, Italy This comprehensive and insightful book discusses in detail the many innovations and shortcomings of the historic Lisbon version of the Treaty on European Union and what is now called the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Divided into six parts, the 23 chapters provide 'after Lisbon' perspectives on law and governance of the EU, its powers and nature, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, EU external action and policy, justice and criminal policy, and economic governance. The authors, drawn from eleven EU Member States, offer a uniquely diverse and extensive coverage of the new EU law and policy after Lisbon. The book argues that while the Treaty of Lisbon has to be considered a milestone in the history of European integration, its shortcomings and open questions will make a future major treaty inevitable. The Treaty of Lisbon and the Future of European Law and Policy will appeal to postgraduate students and academics in European law and policy, EU institutions, diplomatic missions, lobbying, NGOs, specialised lawyers and governments.

The book contains 24 contributions from European law scholars and practitioners analysing the constitutional basis of the European Union and the normative orientation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) as well as the central economic and monetary provisions (TFEU) after the Reform Treaty of Lisbon. Presenting the findings of a European research team, which is composed of authors from eight Member States, the publication underlines the aspiration of the editors to thoroughly analyse the constitutional law of the European Union currently in force.

The book contains a collection of high-quality academic and expert contributions dealing with the central question of whether the Lisbon Treaty needs further revision. Due to the difficulties European Union actors have encountered in implementing the Lisbon Treaty’s reform and the inadequacies of the current legal framework brought to light by post-Lisbon practice, the volume focuses on possible innovations and functional approaches to improve the Union’s response to the challenges confronting it. In doing so, the volume first takes a horizontal approach to the Treaty’ revision and considers some constitutional features showing the interaction between the EU and its Member States (namely, the parameters of constitutional developments, the allocation of competences, the principles of solidarity and loyal cooperation). Then, the focus shifts to the question of fundamental rights within the EU’s constitutional framework, one of the most relevant innovations of the Lisbon Treaty being the incorporation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights into the Union’s primary law. The last part of the volume is devoted to another domain significantly reshaped by the Lisbon reform, namely, the Union’s external dimension. ECJ Advocate General Paolo Mengozzi’s conclusions highlight the common themes emerging from the various contributions, stressing the need for a more general supranational approach to the political crisis the Union is going through. The content of this book will be of great value to academics, students, judges, practitioners and all others interested in the legal discourse on the progressive development of the European Union legal order.

Analysis of some of the most controversial aspects of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty.