Today in History: European Union Treaty signed
The Maastricht Treaty helped bring together European nations to form the European Union.
On this day in 1992, after suffering through centuries of bloody conflict, the nations of Western Europe finally unite in the spirit of economic cooperation with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty on European Union.
The treaty, signed by ministers of the European Community, called for greater economic integration, common foreign and security policies, and cooperation between police and other authorities on crime, terrorism, and immigration issues. The agreement also laid the groundwork for the establishment of a single European currency, to be known as the ‘euro’.
By the time the Maastricht Treaty took effect in 1993, it had been ratified by 12 nations: Great Britain, France, Germany, the Irish Republic, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. Since then, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Sweden, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia have also joined the Union. The euro was introduced into circulation on 1 January 2002.
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