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Article 136 — Get used to it
Read more about: Europe, Lisbon Treaty 
Below the fold, the text of Article 136 from the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which is the consolidated set of treaties relating to the EU; the context of Article 136 itself originated with Lisbon. This Article is extremely important because the European Commission is making it the legal basis of its interventions into national budgetary policy.
PROVISIONS SPECIFIC TO MEMBER STATES WHOSE CURRENCY IS THE EURO
Article 136
1. In order to ensure the proper functioning of economic and monetary union, and in accordance
with the relevant provisions of the Treaties, the Council shall, in accordance with the relevant
procedure from among those referred to in Articles 121 and 126, with the exception of the procedure
set out in Article 126(14), adopt measures specific to those Member States whose currency is the euro:
(a) to strengthen the coordination and surveillance of their budgetary discipline;
(b) to set out economic policy guidelines for them, while ensuring that they are compatible with those
adopted for the whole of the Union and are kept under surveillance.
2. For those measures set out in paragraph 1, only members of the Council representing Member
States whose currency is the euro shall take part in the vote.
A qualified majority of the said members shall be defined in accordance with Article 238(3)(a).
UPDATE: Speech of José Manuel Durão Barroso, Commission President in Brussels on 25 May –
It is a simple fact that without the Lisbon Treaty innovations, especially the new Article 136, we would not have been able to propose the strengthening of the coordination and surveillance of budgetary discipline that I have just outlined. And so I want to tell you that it will be based on Article 136 that the Commission will come with several proposals that in full respect of the Treaty will increase the governance in the euro area and in the European Union. It will be much more difficult, as I am sure all the lawyers among you will recognise; to do it without a clear legal basis. But once again, the legal basis is not enough, we need the political input and the political willingness namely from our Member States. I think today we are closer than we ever were to that. Because as we know, and as most of you know from your studies in European integration history, that it is in times like these, in times of crisis that usually the European Community or the European Union find the resources to act and to move forward in our European project.
The whole principle on which this crazy EU/euro experiment is based is grossly unfair. That is obviously why the euro and now the EU are in trouble.
The EU makes the law and the national Goverments have to provide for the cost e.g. according to EU law as I understand it every EU citizen is as entitled to Irish social welfare payments providing they meet the same conditins as Irish citizens but the EU pays for nothing.
This arrangement obviously suits the bigger countries because it means that smaller or more stupid countries can be made to carry a greater share of the social burden – like Ireland.
As I see it this is what the Lisbon treaty is all about i.e. the free movement of people and goods to suit business interest, but there is no similar provision for the free movement of money to pay for the social consequences.
That is why we are now broke and destined to stay broke unless the EU coughs up money to pay for the social consequences of a stupid principle of allowing hundreds of thousands of people to come into this country without a single thought of the consequences.
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How is it accurate to describe this as intervention?
Niall, it’s not yet clear. But there is an admittedly vague plan to create a new budget cycle in which each Eurozone country budget gets subject to peer review from all the other countries — possibly before the national parliaments have seen it. And article 136 above implies that recommended changes could be demanded through qualified majority voting i.e. no country vetoes.
Thanks for the article. The Lisbon Treaty probably has even more surprises. I can’t help feeling that the whole EU/Euro experiment is really nothing more than a huge franchising exercise.
Total conformity is the central mechanism of all franchising operations and that would appear to be where Mr. Barroso would like to take us, albeit under the guise of a free market.
Whether it is an “intervention” or not is irrelevant, as is whether it be legal or not.
In reality it is unworkable for reasons of perceived sovereignty.
So far we know that there’s talk of reviewing budget plans. The Commission may get to review the plans, but what teeth does it have if a government ignores their input? A review is hardly an intervention. Does it have any new powers that it had not in the past?