The Treaty on European Union, popularly known as the Maastricht Treaty, has had a profound impact on the process of European integration. This book commemorates the entry into force of the Treaty 20 years ago by evaluating the legal impact it has had on the EU's institutional framework and its policies. The book includes contributions on a wide variety of topics, including Economic and Monetary Union, Union citizenship, fundamental rights, foreign affairs and defense policy, educational policy and environmental policy. The contributions revisit the reasons for the changes the Maastricht Treaty has brought about and examine their development over the years, identifying unexpected success stories, unfulfilled expectations, missed opportunities, and future challenges. The book's contributors are (or have been) associated with the Maastricht Center for European Law or the Faculty of Law of the Maastricht University, giving this book a unique 'Maastricht' flavor. It will be of interest to legal scholars and practitioners with a keen interest in EU law and European integration. (Series: Ius Commune Europaeum - Vol. 123)

Dated December 2007

This book provides the first in-depth account of how European Union opt-outs and differentiated integration work in practice.

Is the European Union a unified actor in world politics? The world’s leading economic power is still struggling to find its role in shaping and maintaining global peace, free trade and commerce. How successful is the EU ́s Common Foreign and Security Policy and its institutions really?

Identifies the major weaknesses in the current United Nations system and proposes fundamental reforms to address each. This title is also available as Open Access.

The major Commentary on the Treaty on European Union (TEU) is a European project that aims to contribute to the development of ever closer conceptual and dogmatic standpoints with regard to the creation of a “Europeanised research on Union law”. This publication in English contains detailed explanations, article by article, on all the provisions of the TEU as well as on several Protocols and Declarations, including the Protocols No 1, 2 and 30 and Declaration No 17, having steady regard to the application of Union law in the national legal orders and its interpretation by the Court of Justice of the EU. The authors of the Commentary are academics from ten European states and different legal fields, some from a constitutional law background, others experts in the field of international law and EU law professionals. This should lead to more unity in European law notwithstanding all the legitimate diversity. The different traditions of constitutional law are reflected and mentioned by name thus striving for a common framework for European constitutional law.

Provided for under the Treaty of Lisbon, the accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights is destined to be a landmark in European legal history because it will finally make it possible for individuals and undertakings to apply to the European Court of Human Rights for review of the acts of European Union institutions, which unquestionably play an increasingly important role in our daily lives. After nearly three years of negotiations, a draft agreement on European Union accession was adopted on 5 April 2013. In the light of the draft agreement, this publication offers a concise analysis of the reasons for European Union accession to the Convention, the means by which this is to be achieved and the effects it will have.