New era for European Union with Lisbon Treaty

Stockholm - The European Union entered a "new era" on Tuesday when the Lisbon Treaty came into force, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said. Sweden currently holds the rotating presidency of the 27-nation bloc. Reinfeldt was scheduled to attend a ceremony in Lisbon later in the day marking the start of the treaty.

"With the Treaty of Lisbon, EU citizens get a union that can meet the demands of the 27 member states for transparency, democracy and efficiency," Reinfeldt said in a statement.

The Swedish premier noted that the bloc accounts for "one third of the world's total economic production" and has also started to play a greater political role in global affairs.

With the treaty, "EU cooperation becomes more efficient, more active, and our international action becomes more coherent," he said, noting the creation of two new posts of president and foreign policy director of the council of EU member states.

EU leaders chose Belgium's former premier Herman Van Rompuy as president on November 19, and named Britain's Catherine Ashton as foreign policy director.