The Treaty of Lisbon will certainly be hailed as a historic landmark. But voices of alarm and concern have blunted the celebration before the ink has dried on it. On a mild note, Jose Manuel Barroso stated that the treaty was "not perfect" before the signing ceremony. However, the stronger voice of criticism seems to be from those in the United Kingdom who fear the perceived loss of sovereignty written into the text. A headline to the online version of the U.K. newspaper The Sun states with alarm that "Miliband signs Britain away." The article describes the challenges to U.K. sovereignty in areas of immigration while suggesting that U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s support has betrayed Britain and her citizens.

In a similar vein, Timothy Garden Ash stated in a column for the Guardian that the treaty resembled the "instruction manual for a forklift truck." However, Ash contends that while the document is a "mess"—he is hopeful that it will free the EU to be more effective as a political entity.

Ash writes: "In itself, it will do nothing to convince Europe's citizens, or the rest of the world, of what the European Union is good for. But it will help the EU to do things that may convince them. Now that the end of this long, disappointing constitutional debate is at last in sight, it should free us to concentrate on what this union does, rather than what it is, or says it is. In fact, the EU will define what it is by what it does. Will it help to create jobs, strengthen a free-trading world, encourage development, or combat climate change? What can it offer neighbours who will not become members, in the arc of crisis that surrounds us, from Murmansk to Casablanca? We cannot wait until January 2009 to address these questions. By then, a new American president will want to hear our answers." (See "This treaty is a mess, but it will free Europe to do more important things".)

The Treaty of Lisbon has hurdles to jump before it becomes more than just a well-intended document. It faces the rigors of ratification by the governing bodies of each member state that make up the European Union. An even higher hurdle may be the direction that this new packaging of the EU will lead. There are high hopes that the treaty will bring about Europe’s potential as a leader among the democracies of the Western world on a par with (and as a counterbalance to) the United States. On the other hand, there are those who view it as another step towards a dominating imperial power with dire consequences.

The question of whether or not the EU will use its considerable resources for the benefit of her society and culture is in the process of being answered. The next step will be to see if the Treaty of Lisbon will provide the style the EU needs to influence the world for the better. If history is a guide for us, the answer to that question may be far from promising.

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