The Ratification Of The Maastricht Treaty

The Maastricht Treaty on European Union brings about a number of improvements of the sort that will surely lead historians in the future to distinguish between the European Community «before» and «after» Maastricht. Yet, the Treaty also raises more questions than any previous reform of the Community system - questions concerning the interpretation and implementation of the Treaty, as well as its significance for future developments. In the contributions to this book a number of academic experts and practitioners from the Community and the Member States have sought to look beyond the controversial debate surrounding the ratification of the Treaty and evaluate the results of Maastricht in as objective a manner as possible. The contributions reflect a broad spectrum of different research approaches and opinions, but they all take into account the political constellation during the negotiations, the practical problems of implementing the Treaty and its potential for the future. The book contains contributions in English and in French. Le livre contient des contributions en français et en anglais.

Since its inception, the European Union (EU) has revised its foundational treaties several times, resulting in national ratification processes involving different actors, with varying success. This book focuses on the politics of ratification of EU Treaties and reviews the processes of ratification of EU primary legislation. Existing research and academic debate on EU constitutional politics have almost exclusively focussed on negotiation of new treaties and their institutional setting. However, this book explains how the result of ratification was achieved, and analyses the strategy that actors pursue across Europe. Ratification of the Treaty of Maastricht and the EU Constitution failed totally, whilst other ratification can be considered partial failures such as the Irish Nice and Lisbon referendums. As the EU Constitution has proved, the ratification process may have deep effects unforeseen during the processes of negotiation. In recent years, ratification has produced some of the most intense debates on national membership of the EU and the EU itself. The Politics of Ratification of EU Treaties will be of interest to students and researchers of European Studies, European Union studies, European Union Law and European Union Politics.

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 2,0, University of Bamberg (Lehrstuhl für Politikwissenschaft, insb. Internationale Beziehungen), course: European Integration, language: English, abstract: The topic of this term paper deals with the Maastricht Treaty which came into force in November 1993 and created the European Union. I will examine in particular the negotiations between the member states of the EU, which led to the ratification of the treaty. The reason for choosing this subject was on the one hand a presentation about the negotiations of the treaty and the integration theory which can explain best the results. I gave it within the scope of a seminar about European Integration during the summer term 2009. The Maastricht Treaty is, on the other hand, certainly a milestone of the European Integration and therefore an important and interesting topic to write about. The research question is the following: is the Maastricht treaty a result of rational state preferences? Therefore I will analyze the negotiations with the integration theory of Liberal Intergovernementalism (in the following abbreviated "LI") because the approach of LI is far better suitable to examine such a question than, for example, the theory of Neofunctionalism. The term paper is divided in three parts: the first part is about the used integration theory, the LI. I will give a general explanation of the main features of this theory and about the theory that states are acting in a rational manner. The second section is the main part. This chapter has the focus on the negotiations of the Maastricht Treaty between the member states of the EG. The positions of three nations during these negotiations will be viewed: Germany, Great Britain and France. It is obviously that a consideration of all projects which were on the agenda of the negotiations would go beyond the scope of his work. Therefore I will focus my attention

Written by the same team that produced Westminster and Europe [1996], this book reports and analyzes the major developments in the relationship between Britain and the European Union between the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty and the British General Election of 2001. Britain in the European Union focuses particularly on the EU's impact on parliamentary institutions in the UK and on law and policy in such controversial areas as employment and the social chapter, foreign and security policy, enlargement and governance, immigration and asylum and the single currency.

Exploring the politics of European integration, Michael Baun argues that the end of the Cold War and German unification have created a new set of geopolitical realities in Europe that have profoundly affected the nature and dynamics of European union. His primary focus is the “high politics” of European integration after 1989, especially the role of the Franco-German relationship in the Maastricht Treaty process.Acknowledging the important roots of the treaty in economic and institutional developments prior to 1989, Baun argues that Maastricht principally can be understood as a response by the EU and its member states to German unification and the end of the cold war. In making this argument, he departs from more conventional neofunctionalist or institutionalist interpretations of European integration.After providing the historical background of developments before 1989, Baun weighs the decision to launch parallel intergovernmental conferences on monetary and political union in 1990 and describes in detail the negotiations and treaty outcomes in each of these areas. He then examines the difficult ratification of the Maastricht treaty in 1992–1993, in the face of growing popular opposition and economic and monetary instability. The book concludes with an analysis of the future prospects for European union in the post-Maastricht era, as the EU approaches its next major intergovernmental conference in 1996.