membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which had belonged to the European Communities pillar. The abolition of the "3-pillar structure" was welcomed by practitioners and academics who had long considered the 'pillar metaphor" to be unrealistic, if not absurd. The idea that one pillar could be the Communities, while the other two were merely "policies" or "cooperation" was scarcely credible. In the Lisbon Treaty the distribution of competences in various policy areas between Member States and the Union was reorganised into the following scheme: See also European Union law History of the European Union Lisbon Treaty abolishes (3) pillars: timeline/events, ( 1993-2009 history ) External links The three pillars of the European Union European Navigator A proposed evolution in the CFSP/defence pillar of the EU-WEU : The presentation of the Eurocorps-Foreign Legion concept at the European Parliament in June 2003 1993 establishments in the European Union 2009 disestablishments in the European Union European Union constitutional law History of the European Union