"With the Treaty of Lisbon, combating climate change on an international level becomes a specific objective of EU environmental policy," Elaine Cruikshanks, CEO of the Brussels arm of public affairs firm Hill & Knowlton, told EurActiv.
The PA boss expects the EU "to act in a more coherent and proactive way to achieve binding environmental targets on the international scene".
'Greater emphasis' on climate change foreseen
Georg Danell, managing partner at Kreab Gavin Anderson's Brussels office, agrees. The European Parliament gains greater control over EU decision-making under Lisbon, which Danell believes "will lead to greater emphasis on addressing climate change".
Indeed, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso "has already indicated that he thinks so" by creating the post of commissioner for climate action, to be occupied by Denmark's Connie Hedegaard.
The Lisbon Treaty extends qualified majority voting to 40 policy areas, notably those relating to asylum, immigration, police co-operation and judicial co-operation in criminal matters, and the European Parliament gains new powers under the 'co-decision' procedure.
George Ellis Ruano, founder and director of Brussels-based PR firm Gellis Communications, told EurActiv that "we can expect [the EU assembly] to be significantly more vocal in expressing policy positions with the new rules, and the Parliament will certainly cite its 'democratic legitimacy' as a directly-elected body".
This view was echoed by Fleishman-Hillard Europe Managing Director Caroline Wunnerlich, who said that the treaty "brings the European Parliament much more into play as the 'co-decider' with the Council of Ministers on a whole range of issues".
"Greater parliamentary control over agricultural expenditure may have major longer-term implications for farm policy, while fisheries, transport and regional policy will all be subject to a bigger parliamentary say," said Wunnerlich.
Julia Harrison, managing partner at Blueprint Partners, also expects the "greatest changes" to occur in new co-decision areas like "trade, budget, agriculture, transport, regional aid and justice and home affairs (JHA)".
The extension of qualified majority voting to areas previously requiring unanimity in the Council, like social policy and JHA, will mean "more movement, more horse-trading and ultimately a more dynamic policy environment," Harrison said.
The treaty also introduces references to new challenges, such as climate change and energy solidarity, particularly to address concerns expressed by countries like Lithuania and Poland over heavy energy dependence on Russia.
'More coherent' external voice
Ellis said "we will likely see greater convergence of foreign policies, especially in relation to climate change and energy," leading in the long term to "a stronger and more coherent external voice for the EU".
New provisions on civil protection, humanitarian aid and public health aim to boost the EU's ability to respond to threats to the security of European citizens (see EurActiv LinksDossier on 'The Treaty of Lisbon' for more detail).
Gellis chief Ellis recalls that citizens themselves will now be able to petition the Commission to bring forward new policy proposals under Lisbon. "These 'Citizens' Initiatives' require one million signatures, so expect to see a number of these in the future," he says.
The public affairs bosses were unanimous in identifying financial services as the policy area where the Lisbon Treaty was least likely to have an impact.
"I don't think the treaty will bring fundamental changes to […] financial services," said Hill & Knowlton's Cruikshanks. "The EU’s competences in this field are well-established, and it is making good use of these. Changes to the regulatory landscape […] are happening, but not as a result of the Lisbon Treaty," she said.
Blueprint's Harrison predicts policy areas which were already dealt with under co-decision before the Lisbon Treaty's entry into force – like internal market measures and health and safety laws – will remain as they were.
Indeed, the only "unknown factor" is whether they will be affected by the Charter on Fundamental Rights becoming legally binding, she said.
For his part, Gellis founder Ellis does not expect changes to taxation or defence policy. "There was never any intention to alter the decision-making procedure for these policy areas," he said.
