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Maastricht Treaty
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The Maastricht Treaty is part of an evolutionary economic process that began in Europe following the devastation of World War II. Under the prodding of Jean Monnet (1888-1979) and Robert Schuman (1886-1963) of France, and Paul-Henri Spaak (1899-1972) of Belgium, many European leaders came to the conclusion that if economic growth and social and political stability were to be realized then there must be a formal plan for political and economic cooperation between the various nations of western Europe. This plan would ... serve as a nonmilitary bulwark against the expansionist threats of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European communist allies.
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The incorporation of development co-operation in the Maastricht Treaty is a step towards a common European policy in this area and provides a juridical basis and objectives for EU development assistance. The Treaty is built, nonetheless, on an extensive existing aid programme consisting of the expenditures under the Lom, Convention's European Development Fund (EDF) and under the general budget of the Union.
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The Maastricht Treaty had a rough ride in national referendums. Danes rejected it in June 1992 and only accepted it in a second vote in May 1993 after receiving an optout on monetary union like the UK. In France it squeaked home by just 50.4 to 49.7. There was ... evidence of public discontent in other countries including Germany and the UK.
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The Maastricht Treaty served two purposes. It amended the provisions of the Treaty of Rome while hugely advancing the agenda set out under the Single European Act (1986) for deepening European Political Union (EPU). It created a new model for the Community based around three 'pillars' which, broadly speaking, covered economic relations, foreign affairs and home affairs. It ... officially created the European Union (EU), which became the title to cover all the functions of the much-expanded European governmental structure. It set in train the process of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), which would lead to the creation of the Euro. Coming at a time of political upheaval in Britain and across Europe, the Treaty was hugely controversial and has come to be seen as a central moment in the movement towards deeper European integration.
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The Maastricht Treaty specified an agenda for incorporating monetary policy into the EC and formalized planning that had begun in the late 1980s to replace national currencies with a common currency managed by common monetary institutions. The treaty defined a set of “convergence criteria” that specified the conditions under which a member would qualify for participation in the common currency. Countries were required to have annual budget deficits not exceeding 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), public debt under 60 percent of GDP, inflation rates within 1.5 percent of the three lowest inflation rates in the EU, and exchange-rate stability. The members that qualified were to decide whether to proceed to the final stage—the adoption of a single currency. The decision required the establishment of permanent exchange rates and, after a transition period, the replacement of national currencies with the common currency, called the euro. Although several countries failed to meet the convergence criteria (e.g., in Italy and Belgium public debt exceeded 120 percent of GDP), the Commission qualified nearly all members for monetary union, and on January 1, 1999, 11 countries—Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain—adopted the currency and relinquished control over their exchange rates.
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The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992, and the EC Treaty ... became the Treaty on European Union. Among other things, the treaty included a three-stage schedule for European Economic and Monetary Union, EMU, and laid down the so-called convergence criteria for member states' economies. The treaty had to be ratified by the member states, and in a referendum on 2 June 1992 Denmark was the first country to decide on accession to the Maastricht Treaty. The result was a rejection of the treaty – 50.7 per cent voted against, while only 49.3 per cent voted in favour of the treaty. At the EC summit in Edinburgh in December 1992 a number of Danish opt-outs were agreed. In February 1993 the Edinburgh decision was implemented in a Danish bill which comprised Danish opt-outs from four areas of the Maastricht Treaty, including that Denmark will not introduce the common currency.
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Maastricht Treaty