ESM Treaty and “revised” ESM Treaty

La solicitud fue exitosa.

Dear Council of the European Union,

as the depositary of the European Stability Mechanism Treaty, I would be grateful if you could clarify the following doubts concerning the ESM Treaty and the status of the “revised ESM Treaty”.

ON SIGNATURE, JOINT INTERPRETATIVE DECLARATION AND RECTIFICATIONS TO THE ESM TREATY:

I am relying on this link: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/docum...
On the official website of the depositary, I see that there have been three “rectifications” to the ESM Treaty after its signature of 2 February 2012. Does the word “rectification” mean “amendment” according to the Law of Treaties? The three “procès-verbaux” listed on the website of the depositary (reported in the link above and in the list below) are not available; therefore, I am kindly asking you to provide me with the texts of the three procès-verbaux concerning the rectifications to the ESM Treaty:

- Third Procès-Verbal of Rectification to the Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) 2012, signed at Brussels on 2 February 2012 Signature: 30/05/2016
- Second Procès-Verbal of Rectification to the Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) 2012, signed at Brussels on 2 February 2012 (SK) Signature: 21/09/2012
- Procès-Verbal of Rectification to the Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) 2012, signed at Brussels on 2 February 2012 (GA) Signature: 12/06/2012
- Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) 2012 Signature: 02/02/2012
- Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Signature: 11/07/2011

I would be grateful if you could also indicate what “SK” and “GA” mean, in the list above, next to the first two procès-verbaux.

On the website of the depositary, as you read above, a first signature dates 11/07/2011. I do not understand this reference, as the text of the treaty itself indicates that the instrument was signed on 2 February the following year. How do you explain this reference by the depositary?

After the signature of 2 February 2012, I see that an “interpretative declaration by all parties” was “notified to the General Secretariat of the Council on 27/09/2012”.
It is my understanding that the deposit of the interpretative declaration became necessary, for Germany, because of the judgment of the Bundesverfassungsgericht of 12 September 2012. First, I would like to know if I am correct. Second, I would like to know what prompted all the other States to deposit the same interpretative declaration. Third, I would like to know whether the deposit of the interpretative declaration necessitated a further approval by all national parliaments, after they had authorized the ratification of the ESM Treaty based on the text as adopted on 2 February 2012 and without any indication on its interpretation.

ON THE STATUS OF THE “REVISED ESM TREATY” AS OF TODAY:

A few months ago, it was clearly stated on the Council’s official press release that “the revised ESM Treaty will come into force once all 19 ESM Member States have ratified it. This involves approval in parliaments in all Member States. The ratification process will start following an agreement amending the ESM Treaty and when key documents related to the ESM reform are politically agreed by all ESM Members. This is expected to happen in December 2019”.

Here, two separate issues are at stake:
- on the one hand, there is a draft treaty that still needs to be adopted and opened for signature and, subsequently, ratified by 19 States in order to enter into force – and this process follows the rules of the Law of Treaties (1969 Vienna Convention);
- on the other hand, there are “key documents” related to the reform that will be “politically agreed” – and this sounds less clear to me, because I do not understand what this means, procedurally and legally speaking. I would be glad if you could indicate the list of key documents and the way they are expected to be “politically agreed”: does this “political agreement” involve the approval by national parliaments?

As regards the draft treaty, I would be grateful if you could clarify where we are now. The explanation given above, and the Law of Treaties as codified in the 1969 Vienna Convention, makes it clear that, in order to come into force, the amendments to the EMS Treaty, i.e. the “revised ESM Treaty”, must be: (1) formally adopted, through the signatures of plenipotentiaries, as the text resulting from negotiations; (2) and ratified by a certain number of States. The ratification process involves the authorization of national parliaments.

I am relying on this text: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/39...
My question is: have we reached step (1)? It does not seem so. On the draft text, I read a line stating "as agreed by the Eurogroup on 14 June 2019": what does it mean? If the text has been officially adopted and is waiting for ratifications, there should be a text available with the signatures of plenipotentiaries of States – and not a paper with “DRAFT” still written on it. In other words, if no official adoption has taken place yet, negotiations are not terminated, and proposals on the text are still possible; on the contrary, if the text has been signed and is only waiting for ratifications, the text is finalized. This would be extremely important to clarify.

I would be tremendously grateful for your clarification. I have been trying to understand the process for research purposes, but you may agree on the fact that, unfortunately, public information is often confusing.

Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.

Postmaster Consilium, Consejo de la Unión Europea

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TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM), Consejo de la Unión Europea

2 Adjuntos

Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
concerning your request for access to documents.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

Transparency

 

 

General Secretariat of the Council

Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België

[1]www.consilium.europa.eu  |  [2][email address]

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU

Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
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References

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TRANSPARENCY Access to documents (COMM), Consejo de la Unión Europea

7 Adjuntos

Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
concerning your request for access to documents.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Transparency

 

[1]cid:image001.jpg@01CFD3F6.0B583760

 

Council of the European Union

General Secretariat

Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM

Directorate Information and Outreach

Information Services Unit

 

Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België

[2]www.consilium.europa.eu  |  [3][email address]

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU

Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE

 

References

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2. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
3. mailto:[email address]