ABSTRACT
The European Union (EU), remains a collection of nation states despite the expanding body of supranational rules and laws arising out of the Treaty of Rome, the Single European Act (SEA) and the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty). The main thrust of supranationality is economic, but social responsibility has come increasingly to the fore in the debates about the future of the EU. The purpose of this chapter is to outline the economic effects of issues related to social responsibility and to examine the consequences of decisions reached at Maastricht in December 1991.
