# Maastricht Treaty
The **Maastricht Treaty**, formally the [Treaty on European Union](https://www.edgepedia.org/treaty-on-european-union), is the agreement signed at [Maastricht](https://www.edgepedia.org/maastricht), the Netherlands, on 7 February 1992 by the twelve member states of the European Community, which established the European Union and entered into force on 1 November 1993.[1](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/documents/treaties-agreements/agreement/?docLanguage=en&id=1992004) • [2](https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/principles-and-values/founding-agreements_en) Its stated purpose was to prepare for European Monetary Union and to introduce elements of a political union, including citizenship, common foreign policy, and internal affairs cooperation.[2](https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/principles-and-values/founding-agreements_en)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Formal title | Treaty on European Union[3](https://treaties.un.org/Pages/showDetails.aspx?clang=_en&objid=08000002800b2cee) |
| Signed | 7 February 1992, Maastricht[1](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/documents/treaties-agreements/agreement/?docLanguage=en&id=1992004) |
| Entered into force | 1 November 1993[1](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/documents/treaties-agreements/agreement/?docLanguage=en&id=1992004) |
| Signatories | Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom[3](https://treaties.un.org/Pages/showDetails.aspx?clang=_en&objid=08000002800b2cee) |
| Depositary | Government of Italy; registered with the United Nations as a multilateral treaty, registration number 30615[3](https://treaties.un.org/Pages/showDetails.aspx?clang=_en&objid=08000002800b2cee) |
| Principal innovations | Established the European Union; introduced the co-decision procedure giving Parliament more say; EU citizenship; Economic and Monetary Union; common foreign and security policy[2](https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/principles-and-values/founding-agreements_en) • [4](https://www.eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/2024/Handbook%20for%20Negotiations_ENG_fin.pdf) |
| Current status | Still in force in amended form; its current version results from the Treaty of Lisbon (2007)[5](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/treaty-on-european-union.html) |
## What the treaty created
The treaty established the European Union and, with it, a structure of three pillars: the Communities pillar, renamed from the [European Economic Community](https://www.edgepedia.org/european-economic-community) (EEC) to the European Community (EC); a second pillar for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP); and a third pillar for cooperation in justice and home affairs (JHA).[4](https://www.eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/2024/Handbook%20for%20Negotiations_ENG_fin.pdf) • [6](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/history/) The European Council, the meetings of heads of state or government, acquired formal status in the treaty, where it was defined as providing the impetus and general political guidelines for the Union's development.[6](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/history/)
**EU citizenship** was introduced over and above national citizenship, one of the political-union elements alongside a common foreign and internal affairs policy.[2](https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/principles-and-values/founding-agreements_en) • [7](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/treaty-on-european-union.html?fromSummary=01) The treaty also introduced the co-decision procedure, giving the [European Parliament](https://www.edgepedia.org/european-parliament) more say in decision-making, and created new forms of cooperation between governments, for example on defense and on justice and home affairs.[2](https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/principles-and-values/founding-agreements_en)
## Economic and monetary union
In December 1991 the [European Council](https://www.edgepedia.org/european-council) agreed the new Treaty on European Union, which contained the provisions needed to implement monetary union.[8](https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/euro/history-and-purpose_en) The treaty launched the single currency, and the euro entered circulation as banknotes and coins on 1 January 2002, after being introduced as a virtual currency on 1 January 1999 in eleven member states.[6](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/history/)
The transition to the final stage of monetary union was made conditional on convergence criteria.[9](https://digitallibrary.un.org/nanna/record/648353/files/aria3_eng.pdf?registerDownload=1&version=1&withMetadata=0&withWatermark=0) These Maastricht criteria require a state's public deficit to be below 3 percent of its GDP and, in principle, guard against excessive inflation or debt; they became the basis of the [Stability and Growth Pact](https://www.edgepedia.org/stability-and-growth-pact) adopted at the end of 1996.[10](https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2017/02/02/maastricht-25-ans-apres_5073438_3232.html) In practice the criteria were not applied rigorously, notably by France, and they have drawn sustained criticism as purely accounting-based rules.[10](https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2017/02/02/maastricht-25-ans-apres_5073438_3232.html)
The United Kingdom and Denmark received an immediate derogation, an opt-out from the single currency.[10](https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2017/02/02/maastricht-25-ans-apres_5073438_3232.html)
## Ratification difficulties
The agreement was reached at the Maastricht summit of 10 December 1991, where Spain's agreement on political and monetary union had been secured through a compromise with Germany on economic and social cohesion, and the European Commission backed Spain's demand for cohesion, proposing to limit the opt-out from the single currency to the United Kingdom alone.[11](https://elpais.com/diario/1991/11/15/economia/690159606_850215.html) • [12](https://elpais.com/diario/1991/11/26/economia/691110022_850215.html)
Ratification was expected to be a formality, but the situation changed when the Danish electorate rejected the treaty in a June 1992 referendum, and France approved it by a wafer-thin majority in its own referendum.[13](https://academic.oup.com/book/5168/chapter-abstract/147810977) The Danish vote was the first rejection of a European treaty in a popular referendum, and the June 1992 vote went against the text by 50.7 percent; at a second referendum in May 1993 the Danish electorate approved it with 56.7 percent in favor, which delayed the treaty's entry into force.[14](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0261379494900280) • [10](https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2017/02/02/maastricht-25-ans-apres_5073438_3232.html) • [15](https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/31010688/Shaw_constitutionalism_handbook_w_abstract_and_keywords_for_SSRN.pdf)
In Germany, the [Bundestag](https://www.edgepedia.org/bundestag) passed the ratifying law at the end of 1992, but constitutional complaints claimed a violation of basic rights through the transfer of sovereign competence and the loss of democratic control; the German Constitutional Court approved ratification in its judgment of 12 October 1993.[16](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/leiden-journal-of-international-law/article/abs/long-and-difficult-road-towards-integration-the-legal-debate-on-the-maastricht-treaty-in-germany-and-the-judgment-of-the-constitutional-court-of-october-12-1993/28F92DE61733EE92FAA14353F968197E) [Ratification](https://www.edgepedia.org/ratification) notifications ran from [Luxembourg](https://www.edgepedia.org/luxembourg) on 28 August 1992 to the Netherlands on 28 December 1992, with Denmark and Germany among the last, on 17 June and 13 October 1993.[1](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/documents/treaties-agreements/agreement/?docLanguage=en&id=1992004)
In France, only a short majority voted for ratification, and both supporters and opponents denounced the democratic deficit of European construction; political scientist Jo Shaw describes the treaty as having presented a dilemma for the EU institutions, since it was the first European treaty to be rejected in a popular referendum.[17](https://www.persee.fr/doc/rfap_0152-7401_1992_num_63_1_2612) • [15](https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/31010688/Shaw_constitutionalism_handbook_w_abstract_and_keywords_for_SSRN.pdf) The Danish and French votes ended the permissive consensus (era of public support allowing elites to deepen EU integration unchallenged) on European integration and brought the argument that the EU suffered a democratic legitimacy deficit to the fore.[18](https://su.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2%3A1789991/FULLTEXT01.pdf)
## Later changes
The treaty has been amended by later instruments: the Treaty of Amsterdam (signed 2 October 1997, in force 1 May 1999), the [Treaty of Nice](https://www.edgepedia.org/treaty-of-nice) (signed 26 February 2001, in force 1 February 2003), and the [Treaty of Lisbon](https://www.edgepedia.org/treaty-of-lisbon) (signed 13 December 2007, in force 1 December 2009).[2](https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/principles-and-values/founding-agreements_en) The current version of the Treaty on European Union results from Lisbon, and one of Lisbon's effects was to remove the pillar system set up at Maastricht.[5](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/treaty-on-european-union.html) • [19](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/30388/qc3111407enc.pdf)
The euro area the treaty prepared for has itself developed unevenly: Greece joined the euro as the twelfth EU member state on 1 January 2001, and the EU now operates with different levels of integration among its members, including the eurozone, the Schengen passport-free area, and defense cooperation, a form of differentiated integration that had been anticipated in the treaty's own opt-outs.[6](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/history/) • [10](https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2017/02/02/maastricht-25-ans-apres_5073438_3232.html)
## References
1. [Treaty on European Union (Maastricht Treaty), Consilium treaty page with ratification details](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/documents/treaties-agreements/agreement/?docLanguage=en&id=1992004)
2. [Founding agreements, official EU website](https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/principles-and-values/founding-agreements_en)
3. [Treaty on European Union, United Nations Treaty Collection, registration 30615](https://treaties.un.org/Pages/showDetails.aspx?clang=_en&objid=08000002800b2cee)
4. [EEAS Handbook for Negotiations, on the Maastricht pillars](https://www.eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/2024/Handbook%20for%20Negotiations_ENG_fin.pdf)
5. [Treaty on European Union, EUR-Lex summary](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/treaty-on-european-union.html)
6. [Timeline: History, Consilium](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/history/)
7. [Treaty on European Union, EUR-Lex summary (fromSummary)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/treaty-on-european-union.html?fromSummary=01)
8. [Euro: history and purpose, official EU website](https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/euro/history-and-purpose_en)
9. [Economic Commission, UN Digital Library, on Maastricht convergence criteria](https://digitallibrary.un.org/nanna/record/648353/files/aria3_eng.pdf?registerDownload=1&version=1&withMetadata=0&withWatermark=0)
10. [Jean-Pierre Stroobants, Traité de Maastricht : 25 ans après, Le Monde (2017)](https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2017/02/02/maastricht-25-ans-apres_5073438_3232.html)
11. [González negocia con Kohl un compromiso sobre cohesión económica y social en la CE, El País (1991)](https://elpais.com/diario/1991/11/15/economia/690159606_850215.html)
12. [La Comisión Europea respalda la cohesión económica que pide España, El País (1991)](https://elpais.com/diario/1991/11/26/economia/691110022_850215.html)
13. [Ratification, European Foreign Policy, Oxford Academic](https://academic.oup.com/book/5168/chapter-abstract/147810977)
14. [The European Union: The Danes said 'no' in 1992 but 'yes' in 1995 (published in *Electoral Studies*)](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0261379494900280)
15. [Jo Shaw, The Treaty of Maastricht chapter, University of Edinburgh research repository](https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/31010688/Shaw_constitutionalism_handbook_w_abstract_and_keywords_for_SSRN.pdf)
16. [The Long and Difficult Road Towards Integration: The Legal Debate on the Maastricht Treaty in Germany, Leiden Journal of International Law](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/leiden-journal-of-international-law/article/abs/long-and-difficult-road-towards-integration-the-legal-debate-on-the-maastricht-treaty-in-germany-and-the-judgment-of-the-constitutional-court-of-october-12-1993/28F92DE61733EE92FAA14353F968197E)
17. [Marc Guillaume, Déficit démocratique et déficit juridique : quoi de neuf en France ?, Revue française d'administration publique 63 (1992)](https://www.persee.fr/doc/rfap_0152-7401_1992_num_63_1_2612)
18. [Participatory democracy after Maastricht, Swedish research portal full-text thesis](https://su.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2%3A1789991/FULLTEXT01.pdf)
19. [QC3111407ENC, Council of the EU publication on the Treaty of Lisbon and the removal of the pillars](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/30388/qc3111407enc.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › International relations › Treaties › Trade, economic, and integration treaties › European integration treaties (founding and amending)*
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