Following the Nice Treaty, there was an attempt to reform the constitutional law of the European Union and make it more transparent; this would have also produced a single constitutional document. However, as a result of the referendum in France and the referendum in the Netherlands, the 2004 Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe never came into force. Instead, the Lisbon Treaty was enacted. Its substance was very similar to the proposed constitutional treaty, but it was formally an amending treaty, and – though it significantly altered the existing treaties – it did not completely replace them.
When was there an attempt to reform the law of the EU? What two country's referendums curtailed a constitution for Europe? How similar was the Lisbon Treaty to the constitutional treaty? What type of treaty was the Lisbon Treaty? Is the Lisbon Treaty one that would alter existing treaties or replace them? What reform was attempted following the Nice Treaty? What was an additional projected effect of the attempted reform? Which caused the reform to never come into force? What treaty took the place of constitutional treaty? 