The Maastricht Treaty was of great importance in the matter of political unity of the states of Europe. It was signed in 1992, on February 7, in the Netherlands.
The years 1989-90 were a rather difficult period. On the one hand, Germany, striving for reunification, was accused of insufficient attention to the interests of its neighbors. On the other hand, Margaret Thatcher (British Prime Minister) expressed concern about the possible hegemony of the Germans in central Europe. After all, after reunification, about eighty million people will live in Germany. The head of the English cabinet was afraid of the dominance of the Germans over other nations. Francois Mitterrand (President of France) was also not very pleased with the formation of a large state near the eastern border of his country. Thus, the prerequisites for the creation of the European Union appeared.
The idea of uniting the countries was most actively supported by François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl (German Chancellor). In 1992, the German Chancellor actively supported the signing of the Maastricht Treaty at the Congress of the Christian Democratic Ruling Union. Helmut Kohl said that the development of Germany to a large extent depends on the development of Europe, since Germany is located right in the center of the continent.
The signed Maastricht Treaty provided for not only the unity of states in the political sphere. It was supposed to create a currency union. This meant that not only a single EU economy would be created, but also foreign and security policies. Thus, the need arose to establish the post of “EU Foreign Minister”.
The Maastricht Treaty provided for (subsequently) uniform citizenship for all persons residing in EU countries. As for the internal structure of the powers, it must comply with the principles of democracy.
It should be noted that the decision to introduce a single monetary unit "euro" has caused quite a stir among the governments of many countries. Countries feared that, having lost their national currencies, they would come to economic destabilization and inflation.
However, in 1996, Germany proposed a set of measures to ensure strict financial discipline and aimed at preventing a sharp increase in financial debt. As the practice of subsequent years has shown, all these measures have been very effective in maintaining the balance of the state budget in most states of the European Union.
Discussions about the signing of a new agreement were influenced by events in Eastern Europe. The USSR ceased to exist (in 1991). Many Eastern European countries even before the collapse of the Soviet Union began to establish a democratic form of government, seeking to join the EU as quickly as possible.
The Maastricht Treaty entered into force in 1993, in November. It is called in accordance with the name of the city in which it was signed.
The existence of the European Union is known to all. Today it is one of the key communities in the world. It should be said about which countries are members of the European Union. Today there are twenty-seven states: Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Malta, Lithuania, Latvia, Cyprus, Hungary, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Denmark, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands , Luxembourg, Italy, Germany, Belgium.
The provisions of the Maastricht Treaty provided for a certain amount of public debt of any EU state (no more than 60% of GDP), and the budget deficit should not be more than 3% of GDP. Inflation should not exceed the average inflation rate in the three countries with its lowest rate.