Editing Romano Prodi (section)

==President of the European Commission (1999–2004)==
{{main|Prodi Commission}}
[[File:Romano Prodi 1999.jpg|thumb|upright|Official portrait of Prodi as [[President of the European Commission]], 1999]]
In September 1999 Prodi, a strong supporter of [[European Integration]], became [[President of the European Commission]], thanks to the support of both the conservative [[European People's Party]], the social-democratic [[Party of European Socialists]] and the centrist [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party]] in the European Parliament.

His commission took office on 13 September 1999 following the scandal and subsequent resignation of the [[Santer Commission]], which had damaged the reputation of the institution. It took over from the interim Marín Commission. The College consisted of 20 [[European Commissioner|Commissioners]], which grew to 30 following the [[Enlargement of the European Union]] in 2004. It was the last commission to see two members allocated to the larger [[European Union member state|member states]]. This commission (the 10th) saw an increase in power and influence following the [[Amsterdam Treaty]]. Some in the media described president Prodi as being the first "Prime Minister of the [[European Union]]".

===Amsterdam Treaty===
It was during Prodi's presidency, in 2002, that 11 EU member states ditched their national currencies and adopted the euro as their common currency. This commission (the 10th) saw an increase in power and influence following the [[Amsterdam Treaty]].

The treaty was the result of long negotiations which began in [[Messina, Sicily]], on 2 June 1995, nearly forty years after the signing of the [[Treaty of Rome]], and reached completion in [[Amsterdam]] on 18 June 1997. Following the formal signing of the Treaty on 2 October 1997, the member states engaged in an equally long and complex ratification process. The European Parliament endorsed the treaty on 19 November 1997, and after two referendums and 13 decisions by parliaments, the member states finally concluded the procedure. Under this treaty the member states agreed to devolve certain powers from national governments to the [[European Parliament]] across diverse areas, including legislating on immigration, adopting civil and criminal laws, and enacting [[Common Foreign and Security Policy|foreign and security policy]] (CFSP), as well as implementing institutional changes for expansion as new member nations join the EU.

Due to this increased power of the Commission President, some media described President Prodi as being the first "Prime Minister of the European Union".<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/1999/04/16/eu.2.t_0.php Prodi to Have Wide, New Powers as Head of the European Commission] iht.com 16 April 1999</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010406003725/http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_39/b3648256.htm Commentary: Romano Prodi: Europe's First Prime Minister? (int'l edition)] Businessweek.com 1999</ref>

===Nice Treaty===
[[File:Vladimir Putin with Romano Prodi-1.jpg|thumb|upright|Prodi with Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] in 2000]] 
[[File:Lionel Jospin & Romano Prodi - 2001.jpg|thumb|upright|Prodi with French Prime Minister [[Lionel Jospin]] in 2001]] 
[[File:President George W. Bush poses with Swedish Prime Minister Goran Person and European Union Commission President Romano Prodi.jpg|thumb|upright|Prodi with U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] and Swedish Prime Minister [[Göran Persson]] with in the EU–US Summit in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2001]] 
[[File:Romano Prodi and Ilham Aliyev (2004-05-18) 02.jpg|thumb|upright|Prodi with Azerbaijani President [[Ilham Aliyev]] in 2004]]
[[File:Prodi Erdogan 2004.jpg|thumb|upright|Prodi with Turkish Prime Minister [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] in 2004]]
As well as the enlargement and Amsterdam Treaty, the Prodi Commission also saw the signing and enforcement of the [[Treaty of Nice]] as well as the conclusion and signing of the [[Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe|European Constitution]]: in which he introduced the "Convention method" of negotiation. The treaty was signed by European leaders on 26 February 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003.

It amended the [[Maastricht Treaty]] (or the Treaty on European Union) and the [[Treaties of Rome|Treaty of Rome]] (or the Treaty establishing the European Community which, before the Maastricht Treaty, was the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community). The Treaty of Nice reformed the institutional structure of the European Union to withstand eastward expansion, a task which was originally intended to have been done by the [[Treaty of Amsterdam|Amsterdam Treaty]] but failed to be addressed at the time. The entry into force of the treaty was in doubt for a time after its initial [[Twenty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 2001 (Ireland)|rejection by Irish voters]] in a referendum in June 2001. This referendum result was reversed in a subsequent referendum held a little over a year later.

===2004 enlargement and end of the mandate=== 
{{See also|2004 enlargement of the European Union}}
In 2004, his last year as Commission President, the European Union was enlarged to admit several more member nations, most formerly part of the [[Eastern Bloc|Soviet bloc]]. It was the largest single expansion of the [[European Union]] (EU), in terms of territory, number of states, and population to date; however, it was not the largest in terms of gross domestic product. It occurred on 1 May 2004.

The simultaneous accessions concerned the following countries (sometimes referred to as the "A10" countries<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.derbyshire.police.uk/Documents/Safety-Advice/Migrants/UKResidency.pdf |title=Essential information for new arrivals in Derbyshire |access-date=8 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006213609/http://www.derbyshire.police.uk/Documents/Safety-Advice/Migrants/UKResidency.pdf |archive-date=6 October 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2014/jul/21/twenty-years-tony-blair-britain-iraq Twenty years of Tony Blair: totting up the balance sheet]</ref>): [[Cyprus]], the [[Czech Republic]], [[Estonia]], [[Hungary]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], [[Malta]], [[Poland]], [[Slovakia]], and [[Slovenia]]. Seven of these were part of the former [[Eastern Bloc]] (of which three were from the former [[Soviet Union]] and four were and still are members of the Central European alliance [[Visegrád Group]]), one of the former [[Yugoslavia]] (together sometimes referred to as the [[A8 countries|"A8" countries]]), and the remaining two were [[Mediterranean]] islands and former [[British Empire|British colonies]].

Part of the same wave was the [[2007 enlargement of the European Union]] that saw the accession of Bulgaria and Romania, who were unable to join in 2004, but, according to the Commission, constitute part of the fifth enlargement. The commission was due to leave office on 31 October 2004, but due to opposition from the [[European Parliament]] to the proposed [[Barroso Commission]] which would succeed it, it was extended and finally left office on 21 November 2004. When his mandate expired, Prodi returned to domestic politics.