The lecture will focus on the road to the Amsterdam reform, its content and importance in the context of the development of the EU integration process. Amsterdam Treaty represented the first post-Maastricht attempt to reform institutions and to solve the rapid increase in the number of member states. The new treaty meant a very important step in the "communitarisation process" (especially in the area of Justice and Home Affairs policy), but at the same time it also established the instrument of the “enhanced cooperation” and introduced into the primary law other elements, which could potentially lead to the so-called multi-tier integration.
The Treaty of Nice is understood as the institutional solution to the EU’s eastern enlargement, special attention is therefore devoted to institutional changes. On the other hand, this reform demonstrated that member states were only prepared to make technical revisions, and other crucial changes were left for the future.

Readings:
European Commission (2001): Who’s who in the European Union? What difference will the Treaty of Nice make? Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2001 (28 pages)
Laursen, F. (2012): "The Treaty of Nice: The Inadequate Preparation of Enlargement." In: Lursen, Finn (ed.): Designing the European Union. From Paris to Lisbon. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 196-216. (21 pages)
Moravcsik, A. and Nicolaidis, K. (1998): “Keynote Article: Federal Ideas and Constitutional Realities in the Treaty of Amsterdam.” Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol. 36, Annual Review, pp. 13-38. (26 pages)
Vanhoonacker, S. (2012): "The Amsterdam Treaty: Modest Reforms." In: Lursen, Finn (ed.): Designing the European Union. From Paris to Lisbon. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 180-195. (16 pages)

Documents (recommended):
Treaty of Amsterdam: Treaty on European Union (consolidated version)
Treaty of Amsterdam: Treaty establishing the European Community (consolidated version)