ABSTRACT
Introduction The months of protracted negotiations over the Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the "Maastricht" Treaty, after the Danes' initial rejection of the Treaty in May 1992 had at least one positive aspect. It actually created some awareness amongst the average citizen of the current issues surrounding European integration thanks to the intensive media coverage surrounding the Treaty negotiations. Suddenly, "Maastricht" was in (nearly) everybody's mouth and with it the then latest Eurobuzzword: "subsidiarity”. However, few people actually seemed to understand what the European Union (EU) bureaucrats meant by the term. In fact, bureaucrats and politicians themselves seemed equally unsure and, at one stage, Commission president Jacques Delors offered a price of 100,000 Ecu for the best one page definition of subsidiarity.
