Treaty of Amsterdam/Final Act

The CONFERENCE OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES convened in Turin on the twenty-ninth day of March in the year nineteen hundred and ninety-six to adopt by common accord the amendments to be made to the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing respectively the European Community, the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community and certain related Acts has adopted the following texts:

I. The Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related Acts

II. Protocols

A. Protocol annexed to the Treaty on European Union:

1. ../Protocol on Article J.7 of the Treaty on European Union/

B. Protocols annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty establishing the European Community:

2. ../Protocol integrating the Schengen acquis into the framework of the European Union/

3. ../Protocol on the application of certain aspects of Article 7a of the Treaty establishing the European Community to the United Kingdom and to Ireland/

4. ../Protocol on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland/

5. ../Protocol on the position of Denmark/

C. Protocols annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community:

6. ../Protocol on asylum for nationals of Member States of the European Union/

7. ../Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality/

8. ../Protocol on external relations of the Member States with regard to the crossing of external borders/

9. ../Protocol on the system of public broadcasting in the Member States/

10. ../Protocol on protection and welfare of animals/

D. Protocols annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaties establishing the European Community, the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community

11. ../Protocol on the institutions with the prospect of enlargement of the European Union/

12. ../Protocol on the location of the seats of the institutions and of certain bodies and departments of the European Communities and of Europol/

13. ../Protocol on the role of national parliaments in the European Union/

III. Declarations

The Conference adopted the following declarations annexed to this Final Act:

1. Declaration on the abolition of the death penalty

2. Declaration on enhanced cooperation between the European Union and the Western European Union

3. Declaration relating to Western European Union

4. Declaration on Articles J.14 and K.10 of the Treaty on European Union

5. Declaration on Article J.15 of the Treaty on European Union

6. Declaration on the establishment of a policy planning and early warning unit

7. Declaration on Article K.2 of the Treaty on European Union

8. Declaration on Article K.3(e) of the Treaty on European Union

9. Declaration on Article K.6(2) of the Treaty on European Union

10. Declaration on Article K.7 of the Treaty on European Union

11. Declaration on the status of churches and non-confessional organisations

12. Declaration on environmental impact assessments

13. Declaration on Article 7d of the Treaty establishing the European Community

14. Declaration on the repeal of Article 44 of the Treaty establishing the European Community

15. Declaration on the preservation of the level of protection and security provided by the Schengen acquis

16. Declaration on Article 73j(2)(b) of the Treaty establishing the European Community

17. Declaration on Article 73k of the Treaty establishing the European Community

18. Declaration on Article 73k(3)(a) of the Treaty establishing the European Community

19. Declaration on Article 73l(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community

20. Declaration on Article 73m of the Treaty establishing the European Community

21. Declaration on Article 73o of the Treaty establishing the European Community

22. Declaration regarding persons with a disability

23. Declaration on incentive measures referred to in Article 109r of the Treaty establishing the European Community

24. Declaration on Article 109r of the Treaty establishing the European Community

25. Declaration on Article 118 of the Treaty establishing the European Community

26. Declaration on Article 118(2) of the Treaty establishing the European Community

27. Declaration on Article 118b(2) of the Treaty establishing the European Community

28. Declaration on Article 119(4) of the Treaty establishing the European Community

29. Declaration on sport

30. Declaration on island regions

31. Declaration relating to the Council Decision of 13 July 1987

32. Declaration on the organisation and functioning of the Commission

33. Declaration on Article 188c(3) of the Treaty establishing the European Community

34. Declaration on respect for time limits under the co-decision procedure

35. Declaration on Article 191a(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community

36. Declaration on the Overseas Countries and Territories

37. Declaration on public credit institutions in Germany

38. Declaration on voluntary service activities

39. Declaration on the quality of the drafting of Community legislation

40. Declaration concerning the procedure for concluding international agreements by the European Coal and Steel Community

41. Declaration on the provisions relating to transparency, access to documents and the fight against fraud

42. Declaration on the consolidation of the Treaties

43. Declaration relating to the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality

44. Declaration on Article 2 of the Protocol integrating the Schengen acquis into the framework of the European Union

45. Declaration on Article 4 of the Protocol integrating the Schengen acquis into the framework of the European Union

46. Declaration on Article 5 of the Protocol integrating the Schengen acquis into the framework of the European Union

47. Declaration on Article 6 of the Protocol integrating the Schengen acquis into the framework of the European Union

48. Declaration relating to the Protocol on asylum for nationals of Member States of the European Union

49. Declaration relating to subparagraph (d) of the Sole Article of the Protocol on asylum for nationals of Member States of the European Union

50. Declaration relating to the Protocol on the institutions with the prospect of enlargement of the European Union

51. Declaration on Article 10 of the Treaty of Amsterdam

The Conference also took note of the following declarations annexed to this Final Act:

1. Declaration by Austria and Luxembourg on credit institutions

2. Declaration by Denmark relating to Article K.14 of the Treaty on European Union

3. Declaration by Germany, Austria and Belgium on subsidiarity

4. Declaration by Ireland on Article 3 of the Protocol on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland

5. Declaration by Belgium on the Protocol on asylum for nationals of Member States of the European Union

6. Declaration by Belgium, France and Italy on the Protocol on the institutions with the prospect of enlargement of the European Union

7. Declaration by France concerning the situation of the overseas departments in the light of the Protocol integrating the Schengen acquis into the framework of the European Union

8. Declaration by Greece concerning the Declaration on the status of churches and non-confessional organisations

Finally, the Conference agreed to attach, for illustrative purposes, to this Final Act the texts of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, as they result from the amendments made by the Conference.

Done at Amsterdam this second day of October in the year one thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven.