This refers to a small group of countries able and willing to enter into closer cooperation with one another. This concept has to be seen in the wider context of flexibility, which should see differentiated integration enshrined in the institutional framework of the Union to prevent hard cores from forming outside this framework (as was the case with the Schengen area).
A declaration annexed to the Treaty on European Union states that, "it might be possible to review the classification of Community acts with a view to establishing an appropriate hierarchy between the different categories of act."
The main purpose of such a hierarchy would be to enable the lawmaking authority to concentrate on political aspects of particular issues rather than on questions of detail. It would dictate the shape of the Community decision-making process by ensuring that instruments of constitutional status were subject to tougher procedures (such as adoption by unanimous vote or by augmented qualified majority, and assent) than legislative instruments, which are themselves subject to tougher procedures (for example, the codecision procedure) than implementing instruments (for instance, the institutionalised delegation of powers to the Commission).
The subject was addressed in 1990 in the early discussions on the possibility of inserting the codecision procedure into the Treaty. The underlying idea was to avoid an over-rigorous procedure being applied to certain acts of secondary importance and thereby prevent the legislative machinery becoming congested. In 1991, during the negotiations on the Treaty of Maastricht, the Commission proposed introducing a hierarchy of acts and a new system for classifying Communities instruments (treaties, laws, secondary or implementing acts), but failed to overcome the different national legal traditions. The issue was not raised in the negotiations at the 1996-97 Intergovernmental Conference.
Following the debate on whether to appoint a "Mr/Ms CFSP", a new position of High Representative for the common foreign and security policy will be created with the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam. The new position will be filled by the Secretary-General of the Council, whose task will be to assist the Presidency of the Union in matters relating to the common foreign and security policy.
The High Representative will also help in formulating, preparing and implementing policy decisions by the Council. He or she may conduct political dialogue with third parties, on the Council's behalf and at the request of the Presidency.
Once the new position has been established, responsibility for running the Council's General Secretariat will fall to the Deputy Secretary-General.
The case law of the Court of Justice of the European Communities recognises the principles laid down in the Council of Europe's Convention on Human Rights. This respect for human rights was confirmed by the Member States in the preamble to the 1986 Single Act and later incorporated into Article F of the Treaty on European Union, which is based on the above Convention and the shared constitutional traditions of the Member States.
Respect for fundamental rights will be further guaranteed with the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, which will extend the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice to ensuring respect for such rights, as they result from Article F, with regard to action by the Union institutions. At the same time, a new suspension clause will specify the action to be taken in cases where a Member State breaches the principles on which the Union is founded.