Treaty of Nice — Institutional Reforms for Enlargement

The Treaty of Nice reformed EU voting weights, Commission size, and the European Parliament composition to prepare for the large-scale eastern enlargement. It extended qualified majority voting to more policy areas and capped Parliament membership at 732. Ireland rejected the treaty in a first referendum in 2001 before approving it in a second referendum in October 2002. The treaty was widely criticised as insufficient — prompting the subsequent Constitutional Treaty process.