The Treaty of Lisbon or via the Council page, a result of the Declaration of Berlin, is a revised version of the earlier Treaty of Rome of 2004 which was rejected by referenda in France and the Netherlands in 2005. While the Treaty of Rome contained a Constitution of the EU, the treaty of Lisbon is not a independent book of articles, but a bundle of amendments and proclamations. Because the Treaty was not a Constitution the British, Danish, Portugese and Dutch governments decided that they didn't had to hold a referendum. Only Ireland holded a referendum, where a referendum for every treaty about the transfer of sovereignity is obliged. June 2009 Ireland has received a couple of guarantees about interpretation questions of the Treaty from the Council, which may become important in the future.

The Guarantee about Education is as follows:
Annex 2: The rueopen Council confirms the high importance which the Union attaches to:
the responsibility of Member States for the delivery of education and health services.
SECTION A, RIGHT TO LIFE, FAMILY AND EDUCATION
Nothing in the Treaty of Lisbon attributing legal status to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, or in the provisions of that Treaty in the area of Freedom, Security and Justice affects in any way the scope and applicability of the protection of the right to life in Article 40.3.1, 40.3.2 and 40.3.3, the protection of the family in Article 41 and the protection of the rights in respect of education in Articles 42 and 44.2.4 and 44.2.5 provided by the Constitution of Ireland.