After two years of reflection on the process of reform of the EU treaties, the European Council, meeting on 21 and 22 June 2007, decides to convene an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) to finalise and adopt a new treaty for the European Union. The IGC is invited to draft a ‘reform’ treaty to amend the existing treaties. The constitutional concept, which involved repealing all the existing treaties and replacing them by a single text called a ‘constitution’, is abandoned.

On 26 June 2007, the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union sends the Member State delegations the mandate for the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) convened by the European Council on 21 and 22 June 2007. This mandate provides the exclusive basis and framework for the work of the IGC.

Report drafted by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs on 9 July 2007 regarding the convening of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC). This report confirms the favourable opinion of the European Parliament on the convening of the IGC but expresses regrets at the implications of the IGC’s mandate.

In its communication of 10 July 2007 entitled ‘Reforming Europe for the 21st Century’, the European Commission welcomes the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference, offers its unreserved support for the mandate adopted by the European Council and affirms its commitment to contributing to its success.

In its resolution of 11 July 2007, the European Parliament delivers a favourable opinion on the convening of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) but expresses regrets at the implications of the IGC’s mandate.

On 17 July 2007, the Presidency of the Council of the European Union sends an information note to the foreign ministers on the organisation of the Intergovernmental Conference.

On 23 July 2007, in Brussels, at the opening session of the Intergovernmental Conference on the reform of the Treaties, Luís Amado, Portuguese Minister for Foreign Affairs and President-in-Office of the Council of the European Union, delivers an address on the mandate, timetable and organisation of the work of the Conference.

The provisional dates and programme of the meetings of the Working Party of Legal Experts in connection with the 2007 Intergovernmental Conference.

On 18 October 2007, the Intergovernmental Conference, meeting at the level of Heads of State or Government at the informal Lisbon Summit, approves the final text of the Treaty amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community.

In connection with the European Council held on 21 and 22 June 2007 in Brussels, the Legal Service delivers an opinion in which it notes that, according to the case law of the Court of Justice, the primacy of EC law is a cornerstone principle of Community law, even though it is not included in the future treaty.

On 27 June 2007, the government of the Federal Republic of Germany presents a proposal to the Council of the European Union on the amendment of the treaties.

On 24 July 2007, the Presidency of the Intergovernmental Conference sends its members a draft preamble to the Treaty amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community.

On 23 July 2007, the Presidency of the Intergovernmental Conference sends its members a draft Treaty amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, before correction by legal/linguistic experts.

On 23 July 2007, the Presidency of the Intergovernmental Conference sends its members a series of draft protocols to be annexed to the future Treaty amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, before correction by legal/linguistic experts.

On 23 July 2007, the Presidency of the Intergovernmental Conference sends its members a series of draft declarations to be annexed to the future Treaty amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, before correction by legal/linguistic experts.

On 5 October 2007, the Presidency of the Intergovernmental Conference sends its members a new draft preamble to the Treaty amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, resulting from the proceedings of the Working Party of Legal Experts.

On 5 October 2007, the Presidency of the Intergovernmental Conference sends its members a new draft Treaty amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, resulting from the proceedings of the Working Party of Legal Experts. A corrigendum is published on 22 October.

On 5 October 2007, the Presidency of the Intergovernmental Conference sends its members a series of draft declarations to be annexed to the future Treaty amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, resulting from the proceedings of the Working Party of Legal Experts. Corrigenda to the declarations are published on 12 and 22 October.

The draft decision by the European Council establishing the composition of the European Parliament is distributed during the Intergovernmental Conference at ministerial level on 15 October 2007 to its members. The Member States are invited to consider the concomitant domestic measures that need to be adopted ahead of the elections to the European Parliament for the 2009–2014 term.

At the Intergovernmental Conference at ministerial level on 15 October 2007, a Declaration ad Article 24 of the Treaty on European Union on protection of personal data in Common Foreign and Security Policy matters is distributed.

In this interview, António Vitorino, Member of the European Commission with special responsibility for justice and home affairs from 1999 to 2004 and Special Adviser in 2007 to the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), outlines the main differences between the 2004 Constitutional Treaty and the amending Treaty of Lisbon.