The 2007 Intergovernmental Conference

Abstract

The IGC that would agree the Treaty of Lisbon opened in Brussels on 23 July 2007. As envisaged, participants had before them not only the mandate agreed by the June European Council, but also the draft Reform Treaty produced by the Council Legal Service for the Portuguese Council Presidency. The IGC’s timetable was tight, yet one to which participants would adhere. A revised draft Reform Treaty was produced on 2 October. Political agreement on the text followed at an informal European Council in Lisbon on 18–19 October. The IGC was then concluded with the signing of the new Treaty in the same city on 13 December 2007. The whole IGC lasted less than five months. The substantive part of the IGC — the length of time it took to reach political agreement on a text, so excluding the period from the end of July to the end of August when no meetings took place, lasted less than two months. In terms of IGCs adopting a substantial treaty, this was the shortest IGC in the history of the EU.