Treaty on European Union

KEY POINTS

Main features of the Maastricht Treaty

• A European Union consisting of 3 ‘pillars’:
  • the existing European Communities — the European Economic Community (EEC), the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) and
  • 2 new areas of cooperation with intergovernmental decision-making instead of the ‘Community method’:
    • the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and
    • police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (justice and home affairs).
• More democratically legitimate institutions:
  • increased influence in decision-making for the European Parliament:
  • extended application of the cooperation and consent procedures;
  • introduction of the co-decision procedure (now ordinary legislative procedure);
  • recognition of the role of European political parties;
  • term of office of the European Commission aligned with that of the Parliament (5 years);
  • extended application of qualified majority voting at the Council;
  • creation of the Committee of the Regions, made up of representatives of the regional authorities, with an advisory role.
• The launching of the economic and monetary union (EMU) to complete the single market.
• The development of the EC’s social dimension with the Social Protocol annexed to the Treaty extending the Community’s powers in the social domain.
• The establishment of Community policies in 6 new areas: trans-European networks (TEN); industrial policy; consumer protection; education and vocational training; youth; and culture.
• The establishment of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, to ensure that decisions are taken as close as possible to the citizen and are limited to what is necessary to achieve the objectives.
• Introduction of the concept of EU citizenship over and above national citizenship.

Amendments brought to the treaty

The Maastricht Treaty was subsequently amended by the following treaties:

• The Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) increased the powers of the EU by creating a Community employment policy, transferring to the communities some of the areas which were previously subject to intergovernmental cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs, introducing measures aimed at bringing the EU closer to its citizens and enabling closer cooperation between certain EU countries (enhanced cooperation). It also extended the co-decision procedure and qualified majority voting and simplified and renumbered the articles of the Treaties.
• The Treaty of Nice (2001) essentially dealt with the institutional problems linked to enlargement which were not resolved in 1997: the composition of the Commission, the weighting of votes in the Council and the extension of the areas of qualified majority voting. It simplified the rules on use of the enhanced cooperation procedure and made the judicial system more effective.
• The Treaty of Lisbon (2007) brought sweeping reforms. It put an end to the European Community — the Treaty establishing the European Community is renamed the ‘Treaty on the Functioning of the EU’. It abolished the former EU 3-pillar architecture and reallocated competences between the EU and the EU countries. The way in which the European institutions function and the decision-making process were also revised, in order to adapt to an enlarged EU of 28 EU countries. Several of the EU’s internal and external policies were also reformed and the institutions were enabled to act in new policy areas. The democratic dimension of the EU was further strengthened.
• After 1992, the TEU was amended by the various treaties of accession, which progressively brought the number of EU countries from 12 to 28.