New Amsterdam Treaty

The Treaty on the Commonwealth of Peoples, generally referred to as the New Amsterdam Treaty, was signed on 20 October 2006 in New Amsterdam, Laneria. It followed extensive negotiations between the states which were to be Commonwealth members.

The Treaty divided the political powers of the Commonwealth between four bodies: The Commonwealth Council of State, Commonwealth Interministerial Council, Commonwealth Commission and Commonwealth General Assembly. The first two bodies reflect the Commonwealth's intergovernmental quality, consisting respectively of the Heads of State of the individual members and their Government Ministers and largely serving only to voluntarily coordinate the efforts of the various governments. The second two demonstrate the degree to which the Commonwealth can act in its own right, serving respectively as the Commonwealth's executive and pseudo-legislative bodies. The Commonwealth also established more specialized bodies to deal with military, legal and economic matters: The Commonwealth Defense Council, Commonwealth International Court and Commonwealth Economic Council.

The Treaty clearly establishes the Commonwealth in the name of the member states, not the people of the whole Commonwealth. The members of the various bodies are all members of their own governments, appointed by their own governments or selected by some body made up of delegates appointed by the various member governments. None of them are directly elected by the people of the Commonwealth to an office of trust under the Commonwealth.

Although the Treaty gives most members an equal say on most issues, it reserves some notable powers for the larger members. For example, on questions of war and peace, the Commonwealth requires the affirmative votes of a majority of members including the Resurgent Dream, Nabarro Abarca and Laneria to carry any binding resolution. The Presidency of the Council of State is permanently attached to the Danaan Monarchy.

Ratification

The ratification of the treaty was fraught with difficulties. Three versions of the treaty were rejected by the Lanerian Senate on the grounds that they undermined the sovereignty of Laneria too much. Another version was originally rejected by the Emperor of Adoki because it allegedly rendered the positions of the members' heads of state meaningless. While other members did not reject any version of the treaty, ratification procedures were hard fought in almost all member states.