EU's Lisbon Treaty comes into effect

BRUSSELS, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The provisions of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty went into effect Tuesday with a sense of relief rather than celebration, analysts said.

An assessment of the treaty's history and significance in the Brussels publication the EUobserver noted the long struggle to enact Lisbon's provisions were so drawn-out and complicated -- beginning eight year ago when member states decided the European Union needed to address its democratic legitimacy -- that there was little celebrating Tuesday.

Since then, the publication said, the European Union has grown by 12 members and has expanded the area where the euro is used as the currency to 16 countries. The EU now sees its main challenges as addressing climate change, dealing with economic globalization and fighting the economic crisis.

The EUobserver reported the most visible changes wrought by the Lisbon Treaty are the creation of a permanent president of the European Council and a newly empowered foreign policy chief who will be in charge of a new large diplomatic corps.

But it's the expansion of the European Parliament's powers and a reduction of member states' ability to veto that are the most profound changes, the publication said.