Date of Defense

3-28-1994

Department

Finance and Commercial Law

First Advisor

Donald Yarzebinski

Second Advisor

Dr. F. William McCarty

Third Advisor

Dr. Ajay Samant

Abstract

The Maastricht Treaty emerged in 1987 as an amendment to the Treaties of Rome. The Treaty was the combined efforts of twelve European countries to form one single market, with a common political policy in which the entire European Community would regulate health, education, agriculture and the environment. This study will cover the development of the Maastricht Treaty beginning with its creation in Maastricht, The Netherlands, and continue to its present state. Emphasis will be placed on the goal of European Monetary Union and the process of implementing it. The Exchange Rate Mechanism and European Currency Unit will be discussed in terms of achieving this union along with the benefits and costs of the union. The ratification problems that ensued will be discussed. Denmark, the first country to require opt-out provisions to the European Currency Unit and the Common Defense Policy, shocked the Community and sent the Exchange Rate Mechanism into turmoil with its initial rejection of the Treaty. With the granting of the opt-out provisions for Denmark, Britain pushed harder for its own opt-out provisions with regards to the European Currency Unit and the Social Charter included in the Treaty. Once the opt-out provisions were agreed to by the member countries, Germany was left facing a lawsuit protesting the constitutionality of the Treaty. Finally, recent problems that have occurred within the Exchange Rate Mechanism and how these problems and the eventual unification of Europe will affect the United States will be analyzed.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Campus Only

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