Treaty of the European Union (1992)

We explain what the Treaty of the European Union is (also called Maastricht Treaty). In addition, its history and characteristics.

What is the European Union Treaty?

The Treaty of the European Union (TUE), also known as “Maastricht Treaty” (Because it was signed in the city of Maastricht, in the Netherlands), it is a key document in the European integration process.

This treaty was signed on February 7, 1992 by the twelve countries that, at that time, belonged to the European Economic Community (CEE): Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, West Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal.

The Maastricht Treaty entered into force on November 1, 1993 and It gave rise to the European Union (EU)an organization and community of European states that today have 27 members and is not limited to economic objectives (such as CEE) but Assume political responsibilities.

Since the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, the Member States of the European Union agreed reforms that were reflected in the signing of other treaties (such as those of Amsterdam and Nice). Currently, the constitutional base of the European Union is Lisbon's treatysigned on December 13, 2007 and in force since December 1, 2009.

The historical context

The European integration process acquired momentum after the end of World War II. The 1951 Paris Treaty created the European Coal and Steel Community (CECA), while The 1957 Rome treaties created the European Economic Community (CEE) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM).

The impulse towards greater integration gained strength in the late 1980s with the signing of the single European Act (1986), which introduced modifications to the previous treaties, and the fall of the Soviet block In Central and Eastern Europe (1989), which opened the possibility of adding new members in the EEC. The international panorama motivated the project to strengthen the economic unit, but also build a political unit.

The European Council, gathered in Maastricht in December 1991, approved The Treaty of the European Unionwhich was signed on February 7, 1992 and entered into force on November 1, 1993. This treaty:

• He modified the pre -existing treaties.
• He officially consecrated the name of the European Union, which thereafter replaced that of European Economic Community.
• Expressed a vocation of political unity which exceeded the initial economic objective (which simply consisted of building a common market).

The “three pillars” of the European Union Treaty

General characteristics of the “three pillars” of the European Union Treaty

The Treaty of the European Union was signed by the representatives of twelve countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, West Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal. The term “union” (replacing “community”) was used to convey the idea that It was a significant advance in the European integration project.

The treaty has a structure based on “three pillars” (according to the legal terminology of those who wrote it). This metaphor was used to represent the treaty as a Greek temple that was sustained on three pillars:

• The Central Pilar, called “Community Pilar”. It is the one that was already collected in the previous community treaties and in its various reforms, with institutions with supranational competences. In this pillar the single market, the Economic and Monetary Union (EMA), the common agricultural policy (PAC), the structural and cohesion funds, among others, are included.
• The lateral pillars. Unlike the previous one, they were new and were not based on supranational powers but on cooperation between governments, and are:
• The pillar of common foreign policy (PESC)
• The pillar of Justice and Interior Affairs (Jai)

The main difference between the “community pillar” and the two pillars based on intergovernmental cooperation lies in the way in which decisions are made and in the competences acquired by community institutions (that is, the institutions of the European Union):

• In the lateral pillars, decisions must be made by consensus between the Member States and the powers of the Commission, the European Parliament and the Court of Justice are scarce.
• In the community pillar, decisions are made more and more by majority and the role of community institutions is essential.

The first pillar of the European Union Treaty

With respect to the Community Pilar, the European Union Treaty introduced important novelties:

• The recognition of a European citizenship, corresponding to all people who have the nationality of an EU Member State.
• The introduction of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMA)which established the creation of a unique currency, which was called “euro”, for January 1, 1999. For this purpose, a three -phase plan was agreed:

• Phase 1: Between July 1, 1990 and December 31, 1993, the full liberalization of capital circulation between the Member States should be achieved.
• Phase 2: Between January 1, 1994 and December 31, 1998, member countries had to coordinate their economic policies to achieve certain objectives (known as “Convergence criteria”) of reduction of inflation, interest rates and fluctuations of change between European currencies, as well as deficit control and public debt. The countries that achieved these objectives could move on to the third phase. In it European Council Gathered in December 1995 in Madrid, the final name was given to the new European single currency: euro.
• Phase 3: As of January 1, 1999, the single currency (the euro) should be officially created, with an irreversible fixation of its equivalence with the currencies of the countries that participated, and a European Central Bank (ECB). The countries that accessed in 1999 what has been called “Euro Zone” or Eurozone were eleven: Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Austria, Ireland and Finland. Four countries that integrated the EU (Greece, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden) were out of the Eurozone (Greece entered in 2001).

• The creation of the Cohesion Fundto provide financial aid in the environmental sectors and transport infrastructure, with the aim of consolidating the economic and social cohesion of the different member countries. This fund was intended for Member States with a PNB (Gross National Product) per capita less than 90 % of the European average and that would have implemented “convergence policies” (inflation control and public debt, among others). It was a transfer of financial resources from prosperous countries to the least prosperous. He Cohesion fund He was officially born in 1994.
• The progress in the powers of the European Union institutions In land such as economic and monetary policy, industrial policy, transport networks, educational policies (with programs such as Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci and Erasmus), protection to consumers, research and technological development, and the environment. The common agricultural policy (PAC) was renovated in 1992 but continued to absorb much of the European budget.
• The introduction of institutional novelties: The European Parliament increased its powers, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors and the Economic and Social Committee reinforced its powers, the regions committee (of advisory nature) was created and the creation of the European Central Bank was anticipated.

The second pillar of the European Union Treaty

The second pillar of the European Union Treaty is Common foreign policy and security (PESC)that aims to take common actions in foreign policy.

The European Council, where decisions should be adopted unanimously, is the one that must, according to the treaty, define the general principles and orientations of the PESC. In a statement added to the treaty, the Member States of the Western European Union (UEO), which was an organization for defense, reaffirmed the objective of collaborating with the application of the PESC (the UEO was finally dissolved in 2011).

In practice, The external policy of the European Union was usually subordinated to the dominant role of the United States and NATO (Organization of the North Atlantic Treaty) on the international stage.

The third pillar of the European Union Treaty

The third pillar of the European Union Treaty corresponds to Justice and Interior Affairs (JAI). This includes issues of common interest for Member States, such as Terrorism, irregular immigration, asylum policies, drug traffickinginternational crime, customs and judicial cooperation.

The creation of Europol (European Police Office) was one of the most prominent novelties in this area.

It can also be included in this pillar Schengen's agreement for border elimination Among most Member States. Although this agreement was prior to the signing of the European Union Treaty, as it was signed in 1990 as a confirmation of the Schengen agreement agreed five years earlier, its implementation began in 1995.

The ratification of the European Union Treaty

The ratification of the European Union Treaty by the parliaments of each Member State was full of difficulties. In 1992, three crises took place that stopped the Europeanist impulse that had caused the signing of the treaty in Maastricht on February 7, 1992:

1. Europe suffered a deep economic crisis that fired the unemployment rates. Governments and public opinion focused their interest on these issues and put aside the problem of European construction.
2. There were serious monetary tensions that the European Monetary System (SME) were questioned and the objective of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMA).
3. The European Union was unable to implement a common foreign and security policy during the Yugoslava crisisthat he had unleashed a war on the continent, after many years of peace.

In this context the first ratification process took place In Denmarkwhere, In a referendum, NO triumphed to Maastricht's treaty For a little difference in votes. A wave of “Euroscepticism” spread throughout the continent. However, the treaty ratifications were gradually producing in the other countries.

With Denmark a negotiation had to begin And a special protocol was granted: what is called “Opting Out” (exclusion clause), that is, the possibility of not following the other members regarding the third phase of the EMA (something similar had achieved the United Kingdom when he signed the treaty) and in defense matters. In May 1993, Denmark approved this agreement with 53.8 % of favorable votes in a referendum.

With the ratification of all Member States, the Maastricht Treaty entered into force on November 1, 1993. In the treaty, its own review was foreseen, especially in regard to the reform of the institutions in view of the successive extensions that the European Union would experience when new countries were adhered.

The expansion of the European Union and the new treaties

After the entry into force of the European Union Treaty, Other treaties introduced reforms tending to greater integration, to simplify some procedures and reinforce the link of the European Union institutions with European citizens. The Treaties of Amsterdam (1997), Nice (2001) and Lisbon (2007). The latter is the current constitutional basis of the European Union.

Applications for accession to the European Union led to the admission of several countries, some of them also integrated into the Eurozone. Currently, the European Union has 27 members (The United Kingdom retired in 2020), And the Eurozone groups 19 members.

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References

• Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2022). Maastricht Treaty. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
• Fernández Navarrete, D. (2022). History of the European Union: from the origins to post-overxit. Autonomous University of Madrid Editions.
• Gabel, MJ (2022). European Union. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
• European Parliament (SF). Treaty of the European Union. Official Site of the European Parliament. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/