passerelle
n.— «The Commission hopes countries will agree to press on with bits that don’t need a new treaty. For instance, getting rid of the national vetoes covering criminal justice. It can be done using what is known as a “passerelle” in the treaty of Amsterdam.…It’s the jargon name given to the clause that allows the EU to increase its power without a new treaty. Perhaps “ascenseur” would be better.» —“Europe diary: Constitutional steps” by Mark Mardell BBC News May 18, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
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