Single European Act
HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS, HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF DENMARK, THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, THE PRESIDENT OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC, HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF SPAIN, THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, THE PRESIDENT OF IRE LAND, 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,
MOVED by the will to continue the work undertaken on the basis of the Treaties establishing the European Communities and to transform relations as a whole among their States into a European Union, in accordance with t he Solemn Declaration of Stuttgart of 19 June 1983,
RESOLVED to implement this European Union on the basis, firstly, of the Communities operating in accordance with their own rules and, secondly, of European cooperation among the signatory States in the sphere of foreign policy and to invest this Union with the necessary means of action,
DETERMINED to work together to promote democracy on the basis of the fundamental rights recognized in the constitutions and laws of the Member States, in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the European Social Charter, notably freedom, equality and social justice,
CONVINCED that the European idea, the results achieved in the fields of economic integration and political cooperation, and the need for new developments correspond to the wishes of the democratic peoples of Europe, for whom the European Parliament, elected by universal suffrage, is an indispensable means of expression,
AWARE of the responsibility incumbent upon Europe to aim at speaking ever increasingly with one voice and to act with consistency and solidarity in order more effectively to protect its common interests and independence, in particular to display the principles of democracy and compliance with the law and with human rights to which they are attached, so that together they may make their own contribution to the preservation of international peace and security in accordance with the undertaking entered into by them within the framework of the United Nations Charter,
DETERMINED to improve the economic and social situation by extending common policies and pursuing new objectives, and to ensure a smoother functioning of the Communities by enabling the institutions to exercise their powers under conditions most in keeping with Community interests,
WHEREAS at their Conference in Paris from 19 to 21 October 1972 the Heads of State or Government approved the objective of the progressive realization of economic and monetary union,
HAVING REGARD to the Annex to the conclusions of the Presidency of the European Council in Bremen on 6 and 7 July 1978 and the resolution of the European Council in Brussels on 5 December 1978 on the introduction of the European Monetary System (EMS) and related questions, and noting that in accordance with that resolution, the Community and the central banks of the Member States have taken a number of measures intended to implement monetary cooperation,
HAVE DECIDED to adopt this Act and to this end have designated as their Plenipotentiaries:
HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS:
Mr Leo TINDEMANS, Minister for External Relations;
HER MA JESTY THE QUEEN OF DENMARK:
Mr Uffe ELLEMANN JENSEN, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY:
Mr Hans Dietrich GENSCHER, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs;
THE PRESIDENT OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC:
Mr Karolos PAPOULIAS, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF SPAIN:
Mr Francisco FERNÁNDEZ ORDÓÑEZ, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
THE PRESIDE NT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC:
Mr Roland DUMAS, Minister for External Relations;
THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND:
Mr Peter BARRY, TD, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC:
Mr Giulio ANDREOTTI, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE GRAND DUKE OF LUXEMBOURG:
Mr Robert GOEBBELS, State Secretary, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE NETH ERLANDS:
Mr Hans VAN DEN BROEK, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
THE PRESIDENT OF THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC:
Mr Pedro PIRES DE MIRANDA, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND:
Mrs Lynda CHALKER, Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs;
WHO, having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form, have a greed as follows.
TITLE I
Common provisions
Article 1
The European Communities and European political cooperation shall have as their objective to contribute together to making concrete progress towards European unity.
The European Communities shall be founded on the Treaties establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community, the European Atomic Energy Community and on the subsequent treaties and acts modifying or supplementing them.
Political cooperation shall be governed by Title III. The provisions of that Title shall confirm and supplement the procedures agreed in the reports of Luxembourg (1970), Copenhagen (1973), London (1981), the Solemn Declaration on European Union (1983) and the practices gradually established among the Member States.
Article 2
(Repealed)[1]
Article 3
1. The institutions of the European Communities, henceforth designated as referred to hereafter, shall exercise their powers and jurisdiction under the conditions and for the purposes provided for by t he Treaties establishing the Communities and by the subsequent treaties and acts modifying or supplementing them and by the provisions of Title II.
2. (Repealed) [1]
TITLE II
Provisions amending the Treaties establishing the European Communities [2]
The amendments made by this Title are incorporated in the Treaties establishing the European Communities.
TITLE III
Treaty provisions on European cooperation in the sphere of foreign policy
(Repealed) [1]
TITLE IV
General and final provisions
Article 31
The provisions of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community concerning the powers of the Court of Justice of the European Communities and the exercise of those powers shall apply only to the provisions of Title II and to Article 32; they shall apply to those provisions under the same conditions as for the provisions of the said Treaties.
Article 32
Subject to Article 3(1), to Title II and to Article 31, nothing in this Act shall affect the Treaties establishing the European Communities or any subsequent treaties and acts modifying or supplementing them.
Article 33
1. This Act will be ratified by the High Contracting Parties in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements. The instruments of ratification will be deposited with the Government of the Italian Republic.
2. This Act will enter into force on the first day of the month following that in which the instrument of ratification is deposited of the last signatory State to fulfil that formality.
Article 34
This Act, drawn up in a single original in the Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Irish, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish languages, the texts in each of these languages being equally authentic, will be deposited in the archives of the Government of the Italian Republic, which will remit a certified copy to each of the governments of the other signatory States.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned Plenipotentiaries have signed this Single European Act.
Done at Luxembourg on the seventeenth day of February in the year one thousand nine hundred and eighty six and at The Hague on the twenty eighth day of February in the year one thousand nine hundred and eighty six.
Leo TINDEMANS
Peter BARRY
Uffe ELLEMANN JENSEN
Giulio ANDREOTTI
Hans Dietrich GENSCHER
Robert GOEBBELS
Karolos PAPOULIAS
Hans VAN DEN BROEK
Francisco FERNÁNDEZ ORDÓÑEZ
Pedro PIRES DE MIRANDA
Roland DUMAS
Lynda CHALKER
[1] See Article P(2) TEU.
[2] For the record.
