The Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties

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THE MAASTRICHT AND AMSTERDAM TREATIES
The Maastricht Treaty altered the former European treaties and created a European
Union based on three pillars: the European Communities, the common foreign and
security policy (CFSP) and cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs
(JHI). With a view to the enlargement of the Union, the Amsterdam Treaty made
the adjustments needed to enable the Union to function more efficiently and
democratically.
I. THE MAASTRICHT TREATY
The Treaty on European Union
[1]
, signed in Maastricht on 7 February 1992, entered
into force on 1 November 1993.
A.
The Union’s structures
By instituting a European Union, the Maastricht Treaty marked a new step in
the process of creating an ‘ever-closer union among the peoples of Europe’. The
Union was based on the European Communities and supported by policies and
forms of cooperation provided for in the Treaty on European Union. It had a single
institutional structure, consisting of the Council, the European Parliament, the European
Commission, the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors which (being at the time
strictly speaking the only EU institutions) exercised their powers in accordance with the
Treaties. The Treaty established an Economic and Social Committee and a Committee
of the Regions, which both had advisory powers. A European System of Central Banks
and a European Central Bank were set up under the provisions of the Treaty in addition
to the existing financial institutions in the EIB group, namely the European Investment
Bank and the European Investment Fund.
B.
The Union’s powers
The Union created by the Maastricht Treaty was given certain powers by the Treaty,
which were classified into three groups and were commonly referred to as ‘pillars’: the
first pillar consisted of the European Communities and provided a framework enabling
powers for which Member States had transferred sovereignty in areas governed by
the Treaty to be exercised by the Community institutions. The second pillar was the
common foreign and security policy laid down in Title V of the Treaty. The third pillar
was cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs laid down in Title VI of the
Treaty. Titles V and VI provided for intergovernmental cooperation using the common
[1]
OJ C 191, 29.7.1992, p. 1–112
.

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institutions, with certain supranational features such as involving the Commission and
consulting Parliament.
1.
The European Community (first pillar)
The Community’s task was to make the single market work and to promote, among
other things, a harmonious, balanced and sustainable development of economic
activities, a high level of employment and of social protection and equality between
men and women. The Community pursued these objectives, acting within the limits of
its powers, by establishing a common market and related measures set out in Article 3
of the EC Treaty and by initiating the economic and single monetary policy referred
to in Article 4. Community activities had to respect the principle of proportionality and,
in areas that did not fall within its exclusive competence, the principle of subsidiarity
(Article 5 of the EC Treaty).
2.
The common foreign and security policy (CFSP) (second pillar)
The Union had the task of defining and implementing, by intergovernmental methods,
a common foreign and security policy. The Member States were to support this policy
actively and unreservedly in a spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity. Its objectives were:
to safeguard the common values, fundamental interests, independence and integrity of
the Union in conformity with the principles of the United Nations Charter; to strengthen
the security of the Union in all ways; to promote international cooperation; to develop
and consolidate democracy and the rule of law, and respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms.
3.
Cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs (third pillar)
The Union’s objective was to develop common action in these areas by
intergovernmental methods to provide citizens with a high level of safety within an area
of freedom, security and justice. It covered the following areas:
— Rules and the exercise of controls on crossing the Community’s external borders;
— Combating terrorism, serious crime, drug trafficking and international fraud;
— Judicial cooperation in criminal and civil matters;
— Creation of a European Police Office (Europol) with a system for exchanging
information between national police forces;
— Controlling illegal immigration;
— Common asylum policy.