{"id":38142,"date":"2017-01-09T08:00:15","date_gmt":"2017-01-09T06:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/?p=38142"},"modified":"2017-01-09T01:13:43","modified_gmt":"2017-01-08T23:13:43","slug":"the-maastricht-treaty-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/2017\/01\/09\/the-maastricht-treaty-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"The Maastricht Treaty Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

With all the promotion for events like YO!Fest 2017<\/a>, you will likely see the words “Maastricht treaty” being casually mentioned in emails, posts on social media, promotional texts and others. But what exactly is the Maastricht treaty and why is it significant now? These and more questions will be answered in the article below.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"mt1\"What is the Maastricht treaty?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a nutshell, the Maastricht treaty is what created<\/a> the European Union, and drafted what it meant to be a member state. There would later be amendments to this treaty in Amsterdam<\/a>, Nice<\/a> and Lisbon<\/a>, but, simply put, the Maastricht treaty can be seen as the \u2018mother treaty\u2019. It created the concept of European citizenship<\/a> for the citizens of its\u00a0twelve member states<\/a>\u00a0at that time, and it laid out the plans<\/a> for what would be the economic and monetary union with a single currency- the Euro.<\/p>\n

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Why is it significant now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The laws in the Maastricht treaty have had an impact on the life of\u00a0all citizens of the member countries of the European Union, because this very document<\/a>\u00a0largely defines what it means to be part of the European Union; to this day it still serves as the anchor point for the European Union as a whole and for the national governments of the member states. It becomes especially significant now, since we are approaching the 25th anniversary\u00a0of the signing of the treaty (signed in Maastricht on 7 Feb. 1992)<\/a>\u00a0that has influenced the\u00a0legislation for almost an entire generation.<\/p>\n

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\"mt3\"What were the objectives\u00a0of the Maastricht treaty?<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Article B of the Maastricht treaty, the EU shall set the objectives of promoting balanced and sustainable economic and social progress, most notably by:<\/p>\n