Maastricht Treaty and Constitutional Regime in the UK

The transition to monetary union in Europe, which began formally when Stage 2 started in January 1993, is now well over half way to completion, according to the deadlines set in the Maastricht Treaty. The first decisions on Stage 3 are approaching fast, yet the prospects for its commencement are still very unclear, and many important practical and policy issues are still in doubt. This article provides an overview of the EMU debate, covering the latest developments on convergence (Section 1), the main institutional matters still to be resolved before Stage 3 begins (Section 2), the key problems awaiting policy-makers in Stage 3 (Section 3), and finally the controversy about the economic rationale of EMU (Section 4). It concludes that the UK Government was wise to defer a decision on whether to participate in Stage 3 until the implications became clearer, but that it would be unwise to abandon the option, which it presently risks doing, by design or default.

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9. EU law

Constitutional and Administrative Law ◽

10.1093/he/9780198847120.003.0009 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 202-225

Author(s):

Neil Parpworth

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Member State ◽

Direct Effect ◽

Maastricht Treaty ◽

Eu Law ◽

The European Union ◽

The Uk ◽

Treaty Of Amsterdam ◽

The Relationship ◽

Direct Applicability

This chapter discusses the primary and secondary laws of the European Union (EU). Treaties are the primary law of the EU. In addition to the treaties that originally established the three European Communities, a number of other treaties have subsequently been made. These include the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty), the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Treaty of Nice, and the Lisbon Treaty, all of which have made important amendments to the foundation treaties. Article 288 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) confers legislative power on the Union’s institutions to make secondary legislation in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty. This secondary legislation may take different forms: regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations, and opinions. The chapter also discusses the concepts of direct applicability and direct effect, and the relationship between EU law and the English courts, and concludes by considering the likely enduring impact of EU law even after the UK has ceased to be a member state.

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One Foot In and One Foot Out, 1990–1997

Reluctant European ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198840671.003.0009 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 201-226

Author(s):

Stephen Wall

Keyword(s):

Exchange Rate ◽

Conservative Party ◽

Maastricht Treaty ◽

German Reunification ◽

Exchange Rate Mechanism ◽

Opt Out ◽

The Uk ◽

The Right ◽

Rate Mechanism ◽

The Eu

John Major had none of Thatcher’s reservations about German reunification and wanted to put Britain at the heart of Europe. But he faced growing Euroscepticism inside the Conservative Party. At Maastricht, Major secured for the UK the right to opt out or, later to opt in, to the proposed European single currency. The significance of this opt out for the longer term British sense of detachment from the rest of the EU was not then obvious. The ratification of the Maastricht Treaty in the UK, and the Major government, both nearly foundered, when the UK was forced out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1991. Europe became a toxic issue in the Conservative Party. Mad Cow Disease triggered a policy of non-cooperation by the UK with the rest of the EU. Major championed the enlargement of the EU to include the newly freed countries of eastern and central Europe.

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1. History of the project (1972–2020)

EU Law in the UK ◽

10.1093/he/9780198805922.003.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-32

Author(s):

Sylvia de Mars

Keyword(s):

Maastricht Treaty ◽

Lisbon Treaty ◽

History Of ◽

Treaty Of Rome ◽

The Uk ◽

Eu Project ◽

Over Time ◽

The Eu

This chapter traces the history of the EU, and UK participation in the EU project at its key developmental moments, revealing that the referendum outcome on 23 June 2016 was perhaps a shock, but not a wholly unpredictable one. The EU's overall goals have never quite matched the UK's reasons for participating in the project. The chapter then sets out what goals the EU project has had over time, and how these have fitted with UK priorities and interests. It also looks at each key revision of the EU's foundational Treaties in turn, including the Treaty of Rome, the Maastricht Treaty, and the Lisbon Treaty. The UK willingly limited its sovereignty when it joined the EU in 1972; it has now exercised its sovereignty again by withdrawing from the EU. The chapter concludes with some thoughts on what will happen next in the now four-year-long Brexit saga.

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The UK Public Finances: Past Experience and Future Prospects

National Institute Economic Review ◽

10.1177/002795019615800104 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 158 ◽

pp. 27-35 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Nigel Pain ◽

Garry Young

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

Economic Performance ◽

Government Debt ◽

Maastricht Treaty ◽

Reference Level ◽

Future Prospects ◽

Net Worth ◽

The Public ◽

General Government ◽

The Uk

One of the more troubling aspects of economic performance in the UK since the recession has been the persistence of high levels of public sector borrowing. Borrowing reached a peak of 7.1 per cent of GDP in 1993–94 and has since fallen to 4.5 per cent in 1995–96, with a further fall to 3½ per cent in prospect for this year. Continued borrowing at high levels has raised public sector indebtedness. On the Maastricht treaty definition, general government debt has risen from 41.9 per cent of GDP in 1992 to an estimated 54.2 per cent of GDP in 1995 so that much of the leeway below the 60 per cent reference level has been used up. The overall net worth of the public sector has declined from 28 per cent of GDP to 14 per cent over the same period.

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