The+Treaty+on+European+Union

By Stacy M.

The Treaty on the Union is often called Maastricht Treaty founded the EU and was intended to expand political, economic, and to unite the members of the states. The Maastricht Treaty (formally, the Treaty on European Union, TEU) untied members of the European    Community and entered into force on November 1, 1993. It was the pathway to the European Union and resulted of the separation of negotiations on monetary union and on political union. The Maastricht Treaty was amended to a degree by later treaties. After a while of      negotiations, it was finally accepted by the European Council at   Maastricht , Netherlands , in December 1991. The treaty committed to the change of the EU to Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Under EMU the member nations would unify all their economies and change to single currency by 1999. Also, the treaty created new structures designed to promote a more foreign and security policy . The member states granted the EU more authority in several policy areas, including the environment, education, health, and consumer protection which grants the EU to all the power. 

The new treaty aroused a good deal of popular opposition among the many member states. Much of the concern centered on EMU, which would replace national currencies with a single European currency which would mean that the nations would also be untied on their currencies as well. The United Kingdom  refused to respect some parts of the treaty and gained exemptions from them, called opt-outs. These conditions included not joining EMU for an untied currencies and not participating in the Social Chapter, an area of the Maastricht Treaty outlining goals in social and employment policy, including a similar code of worker rights. Danish voters rejected the treaty, while French voters favored the treaty by only a tiny but overruling majority.  <span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51)"> I <span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> <span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51)">n <span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51)">Germany <span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51)">, a challenge to the treaty lodged with the country’s Supreme Court contended that membership in the EU actually violated their sacred German constitution. In an emergency meeting of the European Council, <span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51)">Denmark <span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51)"> gained some rights from the treaty, including the right to opt out of EMU and any future similar defense policy. Danish voters then approved the treaty. Because of these difficulties, the EU was not formally established until November 1993. <span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Times New Roman'">