A New Provision: the EU Exit Clause

The article presents the evolution of the unratified Constitutional Treaty’s stipulations to the final form of the Lisbon Treaty. The process through which the form of the Reform Treaty was reached as well as the excluded elements from the Constitutional Treaty with the purpose of excluding the possibility of loosing the present responsibilities by the national governments are presented. Among the reforms advanced trough this treaty the stipulation that the member states can withdraw from the Union is detailed. Then, the article details the procedures through which this process can be completed and the role of the European institutions in it.