Ten years of the Lisbon Treaty and the Charter of Fundamental Rights

At 9.00 on Wednesday, MEPs will celebrate the reforms that enhanced democracy and expanded people’s rights in the EU², with Presidents Sassoli³, von der Leyen and Michel.

Parliament President David Sassoli, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen⁴ and European Council President Charles Michel⁵ will speak during the sitting to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, which converted the Charter of Fundamental Rights into a legally binding document. Short interventions by political group speakers will wrap up the debate.

These reforms introduced a higher level of democratic accountability and better protection of civil, political, economic and social rights in the EU.

You can watch the formal sitting live via EP Live and EbS+.

• 1. 

  The European Parliament is the EU's law-making body. It is directly elected by EU voters every 5 years.
  What does the Parliament do?
  The Parliament has 3 main roles:
  Legislative
   
• 2. 

  De Europese Unie (EU) is het belangrijkste samenwerkingsverband in Europa. De deelnemende landen hebben voor deze Unie een aantal organisaties opgericht waaraan zij een deel van hun eigen bevoegdheden hebben overgedragen. Dit zijn onder meer het Europees Parlement, de Europese Commissie, de Raad en het Europese Hof van Justitie.
   
• 3. 

  David Maria Sassoli (1956) is a member of the European Parliament since 14 July 2009 for the "Partito Democratico", which is aligned with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. Sassoli is elected on behalf of Italy.
   
• 4. 

  Ursula von der Leyen (1958) is the Commission president on behalf of Germany since December 1st 2019. She was minister for family & youth, later minister for labor & social affairs and finally for defence in Merkel led-governments from 2005 to 2019. Von der Leyen is a member of the German christian democrats (CDU).
   
• 5. 

  Charles Michel (1975) is vanaf 1 december 2019 vaste voorzitter van de Europese Raad. Van 11 oktober 2014 tot en met 27 november 2019 was hij minister-president van België. Hij was leider van de Waalse liberalen en was eerder minister van Ontwikkelingssamenwerking (2007-2011). Charles Michel, zoon van oud-minister en oud-eurocommissaris Louis Michel, werd in 1999 op 23-jarige leeftijd Kamerlid. Hij was verder minister in de Waalse regering en burgemeester van Waver.