Lisbon to host 'brief, symbolic' EU treaty ceremony
(LISBON) - A ceremony will be held on December 1 in the Portuguese capital to mark the entry into force of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado said Wednesday.
The EU's new president Herman Van Rompuy and foreign policy supremo Catherine Ashton will attend the "brief and symbolic" ceremony, Amado told reporters.
Present, too, will be European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the EU presidency until the end of the year when the baton passes to Spain.
The treaty -- intended to streamline EU decision-making in the wake of enlargement -- was signed on December 13, 2007 in Lisbon, but it could only come into force once all 27 EU member states had ratified it.
Text and Picture Copyright 2009 AFP. All other Copyright 2009 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.