European Union treaty signed
After suffering through centuries of bloody conflict the nations of Western Europe finally unite in the spirit of economic cooperation with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty of European Union.The treaty signed by ministers of the European Community called for greater economic integration common foreign and security policies and cooperation between police and other authorities on crime terrorism and immigration issues.The agreement also laid the groundwork for the establishment of a single European currency to be known as the euro.
By the time the Maastricht Treaty took effect in 1993 it had been ratified by 12 nations Great Britain France Germany the Irish Republic Spain Portugal Italy Greece Denmark Luxembourg Belgium and the Netherlands.Since then Austria Bulgaria Finland Sweden Cyprus the Czech Republic Estonia Hungary Latvia Lithuania Malta Poland Romania Slovakia and Slovenia have also joined the union.The euro was introduced into circulation on January 1 2002.
