The recasting of legislation means the adoption, when an amendment is made to a basic instrument, of a new legal instrument which incorporates the said amendment into the basic instrument, but repeals and replaces the latter. Unlike formal consolidation, it involves changes of substance. It also gives a comprehensive overview of an area of legislation. The new legal instrument is published in the Official Journal (L series).
The task of the Reflection Group, which was set up by the European Council held in Corfu on 24 and 25 June 1994, was to prepare the ground for the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) by proposing possible ways of responding to the internal and external challenges facing the Union.
It comprised representatives of the Member States' Foreign Ministers, of the European Parliament (Elmar Brok, a German member of the EPP, and Elisabeth Guigou, a French member of the PES) and of the Member of the Commission with responsibility for institutional matters, Marcelino Oreja. It was chaired by Carlos Westendorp, who was appointed by the Spanish Government.
The Group met for discussion from June to December 1995, and each institution contributed to its work by drawing up a preliminary report on the functioning of the Treaty on European Union. The conclusions reached by the Group were passed on to the Madrid European Council (15 and 16 December 1995) and formed a working basis for the Intergovernmental Conference.
The idea of a reinforced qualified majority stems from the conviction shared by several Member States and the European Commission that if the unanimity requirement is maintained in an enlarged Union it will all too often result in stalemate. Unanimity might therefore be replaced in certain cases by a reinforced qualified majority, larger than the 71% of the votes generally required for majority voting. Several proposals have been put forward as to the areas where such a majority would apply and the exact level of the threshold.
This option might be discussed at the next intergovernmental conference which will carry out a comprehensive review of the Treaty provisions on the composition and functioning of the institutions. On the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, a Protocol will be annexed to the Treaty on European Union providing for such a conference to be convened at least one year before the number of members of the European Union exceeds twenty.
The "new-look" NATO refers to the process of redefining the organisation's role and operation. The features of this process are an awareness of a European defence identity, the strengthening of the European component in the transatlantic security system, the new role for the WEU and the prospect of the eastward enlargement of NATO - initially taking in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic - as agreed at the North Atlantic Council meeting in Madrid in July 1997.
It will be accompanied by a deepening of NATO's relations with third countries through partnerships for peace and the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. A major challenge in this connection is that of establishing a sound, stable and sustainable partnership with Russia and Ukraine.
So that it can play its role as guardian of the Treaties and defender of the general interest the Commission has been given a right of initiative which empowers and requires it to make proposals on the matters contained in the Treaty, either because the Treaty expressly so provides or because the Commission considers it necessary.
The Council and the European Parliament may also ask the Commission to put forward a proposal if they consider it necessary.
The right of initiative is regarded as a basic element in the institutional balance of the Community.
With the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Commission's right of initiative will be extended to the new policies (health and employment), to matters relating to the free movement of persons - which will be brought within the Community framework - and to the third pillar. In the case of the third pillar, this right of initiative will be shared with the Member States for the first five years following the Treaty's entry into force, after which it will become an exclusive right.
Rural development is linked to the common agricultural policy and measures to support employment. It has four basic objectives: