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In January 1998 we published the first edition of 'The Treaty of Amsterdam in Perspective'. The first edition sold out and the second edition was published in November 1999.

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The Treaty of Amsterdam was signed on 2 October 1997. Since all the Member States have had to ratify the Treaty by their respective legislative procedures, the Treaty did not come into effect until the end of May 1999.

The European treaties, taken together, form the primary legislation and are in effect the "constitution" of the Community; they provide the legal basis for all secondary legis-lation - regulations, directives and decisions - made by the institutions of the Comm-unity. Essentially, the Treaties produce obligations for the Member States and rights for individuals.

The Treaty is, however, not an entity in its own right. It is a series of amendments and additions to previous European treaties and as such is difficult to interpret and understand.

This BMDF publication of 400 pages (cxxvi plus 274) on A4 paper consolidates all these changes into the existing treaties and puts them in bold text for clarity. In addition, in order for the implications to be better understood, a full analysis is included of the increase in the powers of the European institutions resulting from the new Treaty.

An important section of some 80 pages illustrates in detail how the powers or 'Competences' have developed from the original Treaty of Rome and the Single European Act through the Maastricht Treaty to the Treaty of Amsterdam. This also acts as a summary of the Treaties and enables the situation on any particular subject to be followed through with much greater understanding than is otherwise possible.

A list of the main subjects giving both article and page number complements the detailed contents lists.

This publication includes:

The full texts of the main Treaties, i.e. the Treaty establishing the European Community and the Treaty on European Union;

All the Protocols from Amsterdam and Protocols from previous Treaties which are still relevant;

Additional Resolutions adopted by the European Council and the European Parliament relating to Amsterdam;

Review of the key points of Amsterdam and the new legislative procedures, including the criteria for 'subsidiarity' and 'proportionality';

An extensive Index written by the BMDF to allow the reader to easily find the piece of legislation being looked for.

A table of Equivalences, expanded by the BMDF to show how the numbers of the articles in the previous treaties have been changed by the revision of the numbering system by Amsterdam. the table of Equivalances in the official treaty of Amsterdam does not show the full extent of the changes and the BMDF has improved this to help readers.

Reviews

There have been a number of reviews and comments on 'The Treaty of Amsterdam in Perspective', and these are shown on Reviews

Prices

For prices and contact information, please see Contact Information

If you buy directly from the BMDF, you will receive the book post free for delivery in the UK.

Examples of pages from

'The Treaty of Amsterdam in Perspective'

We have a few pages taken from 'The Treaty of Amsterdam In Perspective' to show the layout and the range of subjects covered in the BMDF book.

Preface The preface to the BMDF book on the Treaty of Amsterdam.

Contents List The contents list of the BMDF book on the Treaty of Amsterdam.

Key Issues Notes on the key issues of the Treaty of Amsterdam.

The Development of Competences Sample of pages from the analysis of the Development of Competences, showing the changes in the powers, or 'competences' of the EU institutions from the Treaty of Rome to the Treaty of Amsterdam.

Consolidated Treaty Two pages from the Consolidated Treaty, showing the changes made by the Treaty of Amsterdam.

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This page was last updated on 10 December 2004

© Copyright Anthony Cowgill and Andrew Cowgill, 2000 - 2004