In 1993, the Council adopted the name ' Council of the European Union ', following the establishment of the European Union by the Maastricht Treaty.

More recently, the work of conservative CDU leader Helmut Kohl helped bring about German Reunification, along with the closer integration of Europe in the form of the Maastricht Treaty.

When they rejected ratification of the Maastricht Treaty on 2 June 1992, they put the EC's plans for the European Union on hold.

As such, it has simultaneously positioned itself as " insiders " within the European institutions, enabling it to influence the decisions made by co-decision, and as " outsiders " by its willingness to seek " another Union " which would abolish the Maastricht Treaty.

* 1992 – The Maastricht Treaty is signed, leading to the creation of the European Union.

* Maastricht Treaty

Important news topics at that time included the Northern Ireland Peace Process, the Death of Diana, Princess of Wales ( 1997 ), and increasing European integration ( Maastricht Treaty ) and discussion over switching the currency to the Euro.

In 1993, the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union, succeeding the EEC and furthering political cooperation.

Another major innovation in the Maastricht Treaty was the creation of a single currency for most EU members.

* 1993: Treaty of Maastricht establishes the European Union.

In 1992 France ratified the Maastricht Treaty establishing the European Union.

Early in his term, Major presided over British participation in the Gulf War in March 1991 and negotiated " Game, Set and Match for Britain " at the Maastricht Treaty in December 1991.

On becoming Prime Minister Major had promised to keep Britain " at the very heart of Europe ", and claimed to have won " game, set and match for Britain " – by negotiating the social chapter and single currency opt-outs from the Maastricht Treaty, and by ensuring that there was no overt mention of a " Federal " Europe and that foreign and defence policy were kept as matters of inter-governmental cooperation, in separate " pillars " from the supranational European Union.

However, even these moves towards greater European integration met with vehement opposition from the Eurosceptic wing of the party and the Cabinet as the Government attempted to ratify the Maastricht Treaty in the first half of 1993.

* 1993 – EU-riots in Nørrebro, Copenhagen caused by the approval of the four Danish exceptions in the Maastricht Treaty referendum.

Furthermore, it has become known, by way of the Maastricht Treaty, as the birthplace of the European Union, European citizenship, and the single European currency, the euro.

In 1992, the Maastricht Treaty was negotiated and signed here, leading to the creation of the European Union and the euro.

The Dutch stood at the cradle of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty and have been the architects of the Treaty of Amsterdam concluded in 1998.

Being a small country with a history of neutrality it was the host country for the important Maastricht Treaty and Amsterdam Treaty and is the seat of the International Court of Justice.

* 1993 – The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union.

In 1992, with the European Communities becoming the European Union and with the Treaty of Maastricht establishing the framework for political parties at the European Level, the Confederation was able to mobilize a majority of delegates in favour of transforming the Confederation into the Party of European Socialists.

* Margaret Thatcher who had been the United Kingdom's Prime Minister since 1979 resigned as Prime Minister on 22 November 1990 after being challenged for the leadership of the Conservative Party by Michael Heseltine because of widespread opposition to the introduction of the controversial Community Charge and the fact that her key allies such as Nigel Lawson and Geoffrey Howe resigned over the deeply sensitive issues of the Maastricht Treaty and Margaret Thatcher's resistance to Britain joining the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.

The EU court said the southern Dutch city of Maastricht was within its rights when it introduced a " weed passport " in 2005 to prevent foreigners from entering cafes that sell marijuana.

However, with the Maastricht Treaty of 1993, new intergovernmental elements have been introduced alongside the more federal systems, making it more difficult to define the European Union.

Consequently, it is suggested that the management of the CFP could be improved through the application of the theory of subsidiarity-the principle that political decisions should be handled at the lowest, least centralised competent level .< ref > The subsidiarity principle was introduced into EU policies as part of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty ; however, it does not apply to areas such as the CFP over which the Community retains exclusive competence.

This structure was introduced with the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993, and was eventually abandoned on 1 December 2009 upon the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, when the EU obtained a consolidated legal personality.

The European Political Cooperation ( EPC ) was introduced in 1970 and was the synonym for European Union foreign policy coordination until it was superseded by the Common Foreign and Security Policy in the Maastricht Treaty ( November 1993 ).

Citizenship of the European Union ( EU ) was introduced by the Maastricht Treaty ( signed in 1992, in force since 1993 ).

The concept of EU citizenship as a distinct concept was first introduced by the Maastricht Treaty, and was extended by the Treaty of Amsterdam.

As such Gibraltarians have enjoyed European Union citizenship from its creation by the Maastricht Treaty.

Most of them left their former mother country before the implementation of the Maastricht treaty in 1993 and the following years, meaning that cooperations like the EU citizenship, the VAT union or the Eurozone did not exist, so it made less difference to be a special territory then.

Major never succeeded in reconciling the " Euro-rebels " among his MPs to his European policy, who although relatively few in number-in spite of the fact that their views were much more widely supported amongst Conservative activists and voters-wielded great influence because of his small majority, and episodes such as the Maastricht Rebellion inflicted serious political damage on him and his government.

Only recently, some efforts have been undertaken to " re-import " liberal arts education to continental Europe, as with University College Utrecht, University College Maastricht, Amsterdam University College, Roosevelt Academy, and the European College of Liberal Arts Berlin.

Maastricht is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network.

Several European institutions have found their base in Maastricht.

* The European Union forms in 1992 under the Maastricht Treaty.

* November 1 – The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union.

* February 7 – The Maastricht Treaty is signed, founding the European Union.

With a wave of new enlargements on the way, the Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 which established the European Union when it came into force the following year.

On 1 November 1993, under the third Delors Commission, the Maastricht Treaty became effective, creating the European Union with its pillar system, including foreign and home affairs alongside the European Community.

Kohl is widely regarded as one of the main architects of the German reunification and, together with French President François Mitterrand, the Maastricht Treaty, which contributed to the creation of the European Union.

In Europe, the European Central Bank follows a more orthodox form of monetarism, with tighter controls over inflation and spending targets as mandated by the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union under the Maastricht Treaty to support the euro.

The federal government ran a 7. 1 % budget deficit in 1992 at the time of the EU's Treaty of Maastricht, which established conditions for Economic and Monetary Union ( EMU ) that led to adoption of the common Euro currency on January 1, 2002.

It amended the Maastricht Treaty ( or the Treaty on European Union ) and the Treaty of Rome ( or the Treaty establishing the European Community ).