自一九九六年三月至一九九七年六月，歐洲聯盟會員國召開各屆政府間會議，進 行修正歐洲聯盟條約之工作，而阿姆斯特丹條約即為該項工作之成果。關於歐洲聯盟機構改 革之事宜，阿姆斯特丹條約規定若干革新重點。經由立法程序之改進，歐洲議會得與部長理 事會共同立法，致使歐洲議會成為真正的立法機構。歐洲法院之權限亦擴大及於歐洲聯盟之 庇護、移民，以及警政與司法合作等事項。然而關於執委會之組織，以及部長理事會內部票 數分配之問題仍懸而未決。故於歐洲聯盟會員國超過二十國之前至少一年內，各國將重新召 開政府間會議，針對條約中有關各機構組織運作之條文，進行全面性之修正。

　　　　　The Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaties on which the European Union is founded is the outcome of work undertaken by the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) from March 1996 to June 1997. Under this new treaty, a number of significant changes have been made to the Unions institutional structure. The role of the European Parliament as a genuine colegislator with the Council of Ministers has been recognized by changes in the legislative procedure. The powers of the Court of Justice have been significantly enlarged into areas traditionally the purview of the Union. These include such areas as asylum, immigration, and cooperation in police and judicial matters. However, some problems arising from the composition of the Commission and the weighting of votes in the Council of Ministers remain unsolved. At least one year before the membership of the European is allowed to exceed twenty, an Intergovernmental Conference will be convened to carry out a comprehensive review of the provisions of the Treaties regarding the composition and function of the institutions.