EU leaders are preparing to sign a treaty in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, that will greatly alter the way members govern themselves.
The treaty creates an EU president and a vastly more powerful foreign policy chief for the Union's 27 nations.
At the same time the document scraps veto powers in many policy areas.
It is a replacement for the EU constitution abandoned following French and Dutch opposition. EU leaders insist the two texts are in no way equivalent.
But the Lisbon treaty incorporates some of the draft constitution's key reforms, and several governments face domestic pressure over the document.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has chosen not to attend the ceremony, citing a prior engagement in the British parliament.
However, he will sign the treaty separately, later on Thursday.
The UK's opposition Conservatives accused Mr Brown of "not having the guts" to sign the treaty, which is politically controversial in Britain, in public.
Having started this year with a celebration of its 50th birthday, the EU hopes the signing of the Lisbon treaty will end the serious mid-life crisis brought about by the death of the constitution, the BBC's Oana Lungescu reports.
There will be a lot of relief, said a senior European diplomat, but also some apprehension about what happens next.
Ireland is the only country planning to hold a referendum, but most voters there seem either undecided or indifferent.
Parliaments in Britain, the Netherlands and Denmark are also expected to give a turbulent reception to the 250-page text.
However, Germany, France and Poland have pledged to be among the first to ratify it, so that the new reforms can come into force in 2009 as planned.
Slimmed-down
The treaty is a slimmed-down version of the European constitution, with a more modest name and without any reference to EU symbols such as the flag and anthem.
It is meant to ease decision-making, by scrapping national vetoes in some 50 policy areas, including sensitive ones such as police and judicial co-operation.
There will also be a foreign policy chief, controlling a big budget and thousands of diplomats and officials, and a permanent EU president appointed for up to five years.
But some already fear that instead of giving Europe a strong single voice in the world, the new posts will only generate more rivalry, our correspondent adds.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7141651.stm
JPTF 2007/12/13
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