ABSTRACT
is the name of the Dutch town where the treaty on European Union was signed by all the member states of the EU in December 1991. The Treaty envisaged the introduction of a single currency by 1999 and formulated a number of areas for combined policy action including industrial and social policy, health and education. The Maastricht Treaty attempted to push the pace of European unity forward, but perhaps too quickly for countries such as Denmark and Britain. In addition, the events of September 1992, when the British pound was forced out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), suggested that monetary union was still a long way off. The Treaty came into force on November 1, 1993.
