The Treaty of Lisbon, signed on 13 December 2007 by the Heads of State and Government, was subject to ratification by all 27 Member States of the European Union.
Article. 6 of the Treaty provided that it came into force on January 1, 2009, if by that date all Member States have deposited their instruments of ratification, otherwise on the first day of the month following the deposit of the instrument of ratification by the State Member which has proceeded for last.
All 27 EU member states - including Italy - have completed the ratification procedure, from last November 3 the Czech Republic; therefore, the Treaty shall enter into force on 1 December 2009.
The Italian Parliament has concluded the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon July 31, 2008 (Law 130/2008).
BINDING ACTS: REGULATIONS, DIRECTIVES AND DECISIONS
To exercise the Union's competences, the institutions shall adopt regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions.
Unilateral acts are acts of legislation of the European Union (EU). They are a source of rights only by the will of the institutions. The first type of actions consists of those listed in the nomenclature in Article 288 TFEU: the regulations, directives, decisions, opinions and recommendations.
The second type consists of acts in those called "outside nomenclature". It is of standard acts, and also communications and white papers (present detailed proposals for European equities), and green (they aim to launch public consultations on specific European issues. So It collects the necessary information to prepare a legislative proposal )
Unilateral acts provided for in the nomenclature of Article 288 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU are:
• Regulation;
• Directive;
• Decision;
• Opinions and recommendations.
Unilateral acts constitute, together with the conventional acts (international agreements and