(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-12-13 22:22

Lisbon -- Heads of state and government of the European Union (EU) member states on Thursday signed the Lisbon Treaty, which they hope can make decision-making more efficient.

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was the first to put his name on the treaty.

In a speech prior to the signing ceremony, Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, said the treaty will take the European project one step further and make the EU stronger.

"This is not a treaty for the past. This is a treaty for the future, a treaty that will make Europe more modern, more efficient and more democratic," he said.

Socrates said the treaty will also create conditions for the EU to have its voice heard in the world.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said "from an old continent, a new Europe is born."

With this treaty, the EU is preparing itself to serve its citizens better and address world issues, he said.

Notably, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was absent from the signing ceremony. While both the head of state or government and the foreign minister of other member states signed the treaty, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband showed up alone at the ceremony.

Brown would arrive several hours late and put his name on the treaty separately, reports said.

He was delayed by his appearance before the House of Commons liaison committee.

Brown's unique arrangement prompted criticism from the opposition Conservative Party, which said Brown did not have the guts to sign the treaty in public, according to British media.

Brown faces enormous pressure to call a referendum on the text. His predecessor Tony Blair had promised a referendum on the EU Constitution. The referendum was scrapped after the constitution was vetoed by French and Dutch voters in 2005.

The Lisbon Treaty, which replaces the failed EU Constitution, provides for far-reaching changes in the EU's institutions and decision-making mechanisms.

It creates the post of a long-term president of the European Council, which comprises heads of state and government of the member states, in place of the current six-month rotation by member states.

The European Commission, the EU's executive body, will be downsized, with the total number of commissioners to be two-thirds of the 27 member states, instead of each appointing a member to the commission.

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