Contemporary Issues

Abstract

The Maastricht Treaty on Union, agreed in December 1991 and finally put into force ten months behind schedule in November 1993, is a very important landmark in the development of Europe. It is a compromise between conflicting interests and is therefore imperfect and contains some inbuilt contradictions and sources of confusion. Its faults were partly recognised during the negotiations leading to the agreement. The Treaty, therefore, contains the requirement that an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) be held in 1996 to review the working of the Treaty and to prepare for amendments. Chancellor Kohl of Germany, in September 1995, referred to ‘Maastricht II’ as the name of the amended treaty or as the name of a completely new treaty which would codify and restate all European Community and Union laws from the Treaty of Paris and the Treaty of Rome onwards. His choice of name is significant because it implies that the agreement on a new treaty will be postponed until the second half of 1997 when The Netherlands again hold the six-month rotating Presidency of the Union. That would be after a British general election and the implication is that Germany hopes for a change of British government to one that is less obstructionist in its approach to European union. This hope undoubtedly reflects the views of most of the other member states.