CONSOLIDATED VERSION OF THE TREATY ON EUROPEAN UNION
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CONSOLIDATED VERSION OF
THE TREATY ON EUROPEAN UNION
EN26.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union C 326/13
PREAMBLE
HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS, HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF DENMARK, THE PRESIDENT OF THE
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, THE PRESIDENT OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC, HIS
MAJESTY THE KING OF SPAIN, THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN
REPUBLIC, HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE GRAND DUKE OF LUXEMBOURG, HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE
NETHERLANDS, THE PRESIDENT OF THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC, HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE UNITED
KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND (1 ),
RESOLVED to mark a new stage in the process of European integration undertaken with the estab
lishment of the European Communities,
DRAWING INSPIRATION from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe, from which
have developed the universal values of the inviolable and inalienable rights of the human person,
freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law,
RECALLING the historic importance of the ending of the division of the European continent and the
need to create firm bases for the construction of the future Europe,
CONFIRMING their attachment to the principles of liberty, democracy and respect for human rights
and fundamental freedoms and of the rule of law,
CONFIRMING their attachment to fundamental social rights as defined in the European Social Charter
signed at Turin on 18 October 1961 and in the 1989 Community Charter of the Fundamental Social
Rights of Workers,
DESIRING to deepen the solidarity between their peoples while respecting their history, their culture
and their traditions,
DESIRING to enhance further the democratic and efficient functioning of the institutions so as to
enable them better to carry out, within a single institutional framework, the tasks entrusted to them,
RESOLVED to achieve the strengthening and the convergence of their economies and to establish an
economic and monetary union including, in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty and of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, a single and stable currency,
DETERMINED to promote economic and social progress for their peoples, taking into account the
principle of sustainable development and within the context of the accomplishment of the internal
market and of reinforced cohesion and environmental protection, and to implement policies ensuring
that advances in economic integration are accompanied by parallel progress in other fields,
EN26.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union C 326/15
( 1 ) The Republic of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia,
the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of
Poland, Romania, the Republic of Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden
have since become members of the European Union.
RESOLVED to establish a citizenship common to nationals of their countries,
RESOLVED to implement a common foreign and security policy including the progressive framing of a
common defence policy, which might lead to a common defence in accordance with the provisions
of Article 42, thereby reinforcing the European identity and its independence in order to promote
peace, security and progress in Europe and in the world,
RESOLVED to facilitate the free movement of persons, while ensuring the safety and security of their
peoples, by establishing an area of freedom, security and justice, in accordance with the provisions of
this Treaty and of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
RESOLVED to continue the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in
which decisions are taken as closely as possible to the citizen in accordance with the principle of
subsidiarity,
IN VIEW of further steps to be taken in order to advance European integration,
HAVE DECIDED to establish a European Union and to this end have designated as their Plenipoten
tiaries:
(List of plenipotentiaries not reproduced)
WHO , having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows:
TITLE I
COMMON PROVISIONS
Article 1
(ex Article 1 TEU) ( 1 )
By this Treaty, the HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES establish among themselves a EUROPEAN UNION ,
hereinafter called ‘the Union’, on which the Member States confer competences to attain objectives
they have in common.
This Treaty marks a new stage in the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of
Europe, in which decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen.
The Union shall be founded on the present Treaty and on the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Treaties’). Those two Treaties shall have the same legal
value. The Union shall replace and succeed the European Community.
ENC 326/16 Official Journal of the European Union 26.10.2012
( 1 ) These references are merely indicative. For more ample information, please refer to the tables of equivalences between
the old and the new numbering of the Treaties.
Article 2
The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the
rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.
These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination,
tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.
Article 3
(ex Article 2 TEU)
1. The Union’s aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples.
2. The Union shall offer its citizens an area of freedom, security and justice without internal
frontiers, in which the free movement of persons is ensured in conjunction with appropriate
measures with respect to external border controls, asylum, immigration and the prevention and
combating of crime.
3. The Union shall establish an internal market. It shall work for the sustainable development of
Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market
economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of protection and
improvement of the quality of the environment. It shall promote scientific and technological advance.
It shall combat social exclusion and discrimination, and shall promote social justice and protection,
equality between women and men, solidarity between generations and protection of the rights of the
child.
It shall promote economic, social and territorial cohesion, and solidarity among Member States.
It shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity, and shall ensure that Europe’s cultural heritage
is safeguarded and enhanced.
4. The Union shall establish an economic and monetary union whose currency is the euro.
5. In its relations with the wider world, the Union shall uphold and promote its values and
interests and contribute to the protection of its citizens. It shall contribute to peace, security, the
sustainable development of the Earth, solidarity and mutual respect among peoples, free and fair
trade, eradication of poverty and the protection of human rights, in particular the rights of the child,
as well as to the strict observance and the development of international law, including respect for the
principles of the United Nations Charter.
6. The Union shall pursue its objectives by appropriate means commensurate with the
competences which are conferred upon it in the Treaties.