The Maastricht Treaty: Council info and EU Publications

The Maastricht Treaty established the European Union, paved the way for the single currency: the euro and created EU citizenship. Scroll story.

Find out more about the events and treaties which have shaped the roles of the European Council, the Council of the EU, the Eurogroup and the Euro Summit.

The General Affairs Council coordinates preparations for European Council meetings. It is responsible for a number of cross-cutting policy areas, which include EU enlargement and accession negotiations.

Find out more about the events and treaties which have shaped the roles of the European Council, the Council of the EU, the Eurogroup and the Euro Summit.

The archival fond on the Intergovernmental Conference on Political, Economic and Monetary Union (CM3.NEGO7) is composed of 55 files, including reports, ministerial meetings, consultation papers and other. It retraces the negotiations held during the two Intergovernmental Conferences that brought to the signing of the Treaty. The fond contains the documents covering the signing ceremony as well as the ratifications and entering into force. The documents in this archival fond are all available online and may be consulted in CASE (Central Archives Search Engine).

The Maastricht Treaty was a turning point in the process of European integration. For the first time, the ambition of political union was formalised, moving on from the initial objective of economic integration as an instrument for political reconciliation. This beautifully illustrated brochure examines the detailed path to Maastricht. It is available in English and French.

Almost 30 years ago, the Maastricht Treaty laid the basis for economic and monetary union (EMU). Its fiscal provisions have been further developed by subsequent primary and secondary legislation –in particular, the Stability and Growth Pact with its preventive and corrective arms, and the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in EMU. These instruments together constitute the fiscal framework of the European Union. In early 2020, the European Commission launched a review of the EU's economic governance, seeking in particular to establish how effective the surveillance provisions have been in achieving their objectives.

Articles about joining the euro

Discover more about the different treaties in the institutions and their effects in the Parliament in particular.

The Treaty on European Union was signed in Maastricht in the presence of the President of the European Parliament, Egon Klepsch. In accordance with that Treaty the Union is founded on the European Communities (first pillar), with two additional areas of cooperation (second and third pillars): the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CSFP) and Justice and Home Affairs (JHA).

This Text on EUR-Lex gives a summary of the Maastricht Treaty.

Full text of the Treaty on European Union.

The Maastricht Treaty, officially known as the Treaty on European Union, laid the foundations for the European Union as we know it today.