Official signature of the Treaty of Amsterdam
Representatives of the governments of the EU's 15 Member States signed the Treaty of Amsterdam at a ceremony, held in Amsterdam, on 2 October 1997. This was the first stage in the process of ratification of the Treaty agreed, following months of negotiations, on 17 June 1997 by the heads of state and government at the Amsterdam European Council. The Treaty of Amsterdam, which will amend and extend the existing EU Treaties, now must be ratified by each Member State's Parliament, before it can enter into force. In some Member States, it must also be approved by the people in a referendum. Of particular interest for Community research policy is the decision to remove the requirement for unanimity in the Council of Ministers when voting on research questions, such as the Framework Programme. This change had been called for by the Commission and influential outsiders such as Viscount Davignon, in his five-year assessment of the Framework Programme. It will mean that in future, Community research programmes should respond more to collective European interests and less to individual national priorities. It is as yet unclear whether qualified majority voting will apply in the adoption of the Fifth Framework Programme. Given the length of time taken for the ratification process to be completed in all 15 Member States, it is almost certain that the Fifth Framework Programme will have been adopted before the new Treaty enters into force. However, Viscount Davignon has suggested that, since the new formula has been agreed at heads of state and government level, the Research Ministers should apply qualified majority voting in their deliberations on the Fifth Framework Programme. As yet however, the Council has not indicated whether it will adopt this course.