Publication

The Treaty of Lisbon was not the most contentious issue at the December European Council, which was dominated by measures aimed at tackling the economic crisis and climate change. Concerning the treaty, the European decision-making machinery has done what it can do best: cooling down a hot political debate and carefully building a consensus. Since the Irish no-vote on 12 June 2008, governments have made every effort to avoid public debate about the possible way forward, while everybody knew what the parameters of a solution must be to eventually get the Treaty of Lisbon ratified.