Article 159 [Report on the Social and Demographic Situation]

The provision has its origins in ex-Article 143 TEC, which was introduced by the Treaty of Amsterdam. The foundation for that article was Article 7 of the Agreement on Social Policy that became effective with the entry into force of the Treaty of Maastricht. Article 7.1 provided that ‘The Commission shall draw up a report each year on progress in achieving the objectives of Article 1, including the demographic situation in the Community. It shall forward the report to the European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee’. The nature of the obligation is essentially a reporting one, whereby the European Commission is tasked with providing annually a report on the progress of attaining the objectives of the Union in the field of social policy, including specifically the demographic situation. The intention behind the provision is to ensure that the progress of implementation of the social policies of the Union is monitored and that the Union institutions are informed about that progress.