Making the Most of Maastricht

Abstract

As with the Single Act, much of the true impact of the Treaty on European Union would depend on its implementation and on how the institutions would be able to make the most of the new possibilities afforded. From an integration perspective, the single most important issue will be the process of Economic and Monetary Union. However, a number of other aspects were important, not least for the European Parliament.

For reasons of space, the process of ratification of the Maastricht Treaty, which gave rise to significant difficulties in three Member States, is not discussed in this chapter which is an additional chapter bringing the cen?tral arguments in this book up-to-date. For an overview of the ratification procedures, see Laursen and Vanhoonacker (1994).