National Legal Implications of Lisbon Treaty
But don’t we need these changes to make EU enlargement work?
Some argue that unless the rules are changed to make it easier to pass legislation then the EU will “grind to a halt.” However, there is no evidence to support this assertion. Major decisions have been, and are still being, taken. Legislation has continued to be passed in recent years and would be in future years too without any institutional reform. Indeed, if some decisions do take a little longer to reach, them that is not necessarily a bad thing. And it has certainly never been true to argue, as some have, that there can be no father enlargement of the EU without a Constitution. Any institutional adjustments for, say, Croatia to join, could be made in that country's own Accession Treaty, while any further enlargements, even in a most optimistic scenario, will probably not occur in the immediately foreseeable future anyway.
