On 10 December 1990, the Commission of the European Communities submits to the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference its draft revision treaty with a view to the establishment of an Economic and Monetary Union. This draft incorporates the preparatory work carried out since the Hanover Council and various additional contributions. It identifies the points that have yet to secure agreement and sets out the arrangements for the transition from one stage to the next.

On 18 June 1991, the Luxembourg Council Presidency presents a draft Treaty on European Union, drawn up on the basis of the proceedings at the two intergovernmental conferences on Political Union and Economic and Monetary Union, which began on 15 December 1990 in Rome. This draft, which proposes the establishment of three pillars for the Union, is to be the basis for negotiations within the two conferences that will lead to the adoption of the Treaty of Maastricht on 7 February 1992.

On 10 July 1991, the European Parliament adopts a highly critical resolution on the conclusions of the European Council held in Luxembourg on 28 and 29 June 1991. It reaffirms its rejection of integration based on intergovernmental cooperation and calls for respect for the federal vocation of the European project. It particularly defends the existence of a single set of institutions, the preservation of the Community acquis, the principle of strict equality between the two legislative arms of the future codecision procedure, a central role for Parliament in Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the establishment of a European system of central banks with the requisite powers at the beginning of the second stage of EMU.

On 9 and 10 December 1991, the Heads of State or Government of the Twelve meet as the European Council in Maastricht in order to seek agreement on the Treaty on European Union.

The Treaty signed on 7 February 1992 in Maastricht lays the foundations for a new European structure. It establishes a ‘European Union' that brings together not only the three European Communities, but also two areas of political cooperation between Member States (CFSP and JHA). The aim is to allow these three elements to develop within a unified framework. This new structure is generally represented in the form of a Greek temple made of three pillars: the Community pillar, which has a supranational character, and the second and third pillars, which have an intergovernmental character.

In this interview excerpt, Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities from 1985 to 1995, discusses the controversy surrounding the negotiations on the Maastricht Treaty, in particular in the area of the CFSP, the convergence criteria for EMU, the ‘temple' structure of the European Union, and the Social Protocol.

In this interview, Jacques Santer, former Luxembourg Prime Minister and Finance Minister, comments on the work of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on Political Union and recalls the origins of the three-pillar structure which the Luxembourg Presidency proposed on 17 April 1991 for the future Treaty on European Union.

In this interview, Jacques F. Poos, former Luxembourg Foreign Minister, recalls the objectives of the three-pillar structure of the Treaty of Maastricht on European Union and describes the limits set on Europe by the intergovernmental approach and the unanimity rule.

In this interview, Nicole Fontaine, Member of the European Parliament (EP) from 1984 to 2002, describes the progress achieved by the Treaty on European Union with regard to the powers of the EP.

In this interview, Jean-Jacques Kasel, Director of Political and Cultural Affairs at the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1986 to 1992, emphasises the difficulties that had to be overcome to finalise the Treaty on European Union signed in Maastricht on 7 February 1992.

In this interview excerpt, Joseph Weyland, Permanent Representative to the European Communities from 1984 to 1991 and Chairman of the Group of Personal Representatives of the Foreign Ministers of the European Communities from 1 January to 30 June 1991, discusses the reactions to the submission on 17 April 1991 of the Luxembourg non-paper, a series of draft treaty articles with a view to the establishment of a political union. He also describes the continuation of the work of the Intergovernmental Conference on Political Union under the Luxembourg Presidency with the submission on 18 June 1991 of a reworked treaty text entitled ‘Draft Treaty on European Union’ in the run-up to the Luxembourg European Council on 28 and 29 June 1991.

In this interview excerpt, Joseph Weyland, Permanent Representative to the European Communities from 1984 to 1991 and Chairman of the Group of Personal Representatives of the Foreign Ministers of the European Communities from 1 January to 30 June 1991, shares his memories of the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Maastricht under the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union from January to June 1991. He describes the work and the working method of the Group of Personal Representatives, emphasising the assistance of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Communities and particularly its Legal Service. Finally, he discusses the European Commission’s proposals and the differences of opinion between the Commission and the Luxembourg Presidency.

In this interview excerpt, Joseph Weyland, Permanent Representative to the European Communities from 1984 to 1991 and Member of the Group of Personal Representatives of the Foreign Ministers of the European Communities during the 1991 Intergovernmental Conference on Political Union, discusses the initiative taken by the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the European Communities to submit an alternative version, on 30 September 1991, to the draft submitted by the Luxembourg Presidency. The rejection of this proposal was seen as the ‘Black Monday’ of the 1991 Dutch Presidency.

In this interview excerpt, Joseph Weyland, Permanent Representative to the European Communities from 1984 to 1991 and Chairman of the Group of Personal Representatives of the Foreign Ministers of the European Communities from 1 January to 30 June 1991, recalls the origins of the new institutional architecture agreed on at the 1991 Intergovernmental Conference on Political Union. This structure is generally represented as a Greek temple with three pillars: the supranational Community pillar and the second and third pillars which are intergovernmental in nature.

On 8 and 9 December 1989, during the Strasbourg European Council, the Heads of State or Government of the Twelve decide, in particular, that the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on the final stages of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) will reconvene before the end of 1990.

On 28 April 1990, the European Commission sends to the European Foreign Ministers a note on economic and monetary union (EMU) and on the implementation of a new monetary institution, EuroFed.

On 10 October 1990, with a view to the establishment of an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), the European Parliament adopts a resolution in which it confers on participants at the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) the task of analysing the amendments that should be made to the Treaty of Rome.

Following the Rome European Council which took place on 27 and 28 October 1990, the Heads of State and Government of the Twelve set the date for the start of the second stage of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) as 1 January 1994.

On 28 October 1990, following the Rome European Council, François Mitterrand, French President, holds a press conference during which he discusses, in particular, the launching of the second stage of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), the nature of the future single currency, the ecu and the number of countries eligible to participate in EMU.

On 28 October 1990, following the Rome European Council, Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission, outlines the prospects for and the implications of the gradual establishment of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

In its conclusions adopted on 15 December 1990, the Rome European Council provides the context for the holding of two Intergovernmental Conferences (IGC) on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and on Political Union, officially opening in Rome on the same date.

Dated 10 April 1990, the briefing note sent by the Secretariat-General of the Commission of the European Communities contains a working document drawn up by the Italian Foreign Ministry that sets out the broad lines of the programme for the Italian Presidency of the Community (1 July–31 December 1990).

On 10 December 1990, the Commission of the European Communities submits to the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference its draft revision treaty for the establishment of an Economic and Monetary Union. This draft incorporates the preparatory work carried out since the Hanover Council and various additional contributions. It identifies the points that have yet to secure agreement and sets out the arrangements for the transition from one stage to the next.

On 10 December 1990, the Commission of the European Communities sets out the comments, article by article, on its draft treaty revising the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community with a view to the establishment of an Economic and Monetary Union. This working document is aimed at the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference.

On 11 January 1991, Norman Lamont, British Chancellor of the Exchequer, sends Jean-Claude Juncker, Chairman of the IGC on EMU, the British proposals on the possible treaty provisions for the establishment and statute of a European Monetary Fund whose role would be to issue and manage a common currency (or ‘hard ecu’).

On 10 January 1991, Jean-Claude Juncker sends a letter to the Finance Ministers of the Member States participating in the Intergovernmental Conference on Economic and Monetary Union. As chairman of the IGC, he sets out the arrangements for the meeting to be held on 28 January and the subjects to be addressed as a matter of priority.

On 18 January 1991, the national delegations are informed of the reservations expressed by the United Kingdom at the meeting of 15 January between the representatives to the Intergovernmental Conference on Economic and Monetary Union. The United Kingdom states that it is willing to negotiate on all the proposed texts but that it is unable to participate in a monetary union in the long term.

On 28 January 1991, the Secretariat-General of the Commission of the European Communities sends this internal note to the Members of the Commission. The document includes the notes, questions and proposals made by the British, Portuguese, French, German and Irish delegations to the Intergovernmental Conference on Economic and Monetary Union.

On 8 February 1990, the Secretariat-General of the Commission sends a list to the personal representatives of the Members of the Commission at the Intergovernmental Conference. This list includes the documents produced up to 30 January 1990 on Economic and Monetary Union in connection with the conference and the preparatory work for it.

In a note dated 31 January 1991, the parties to the Intergovernmental Conference on Economic and Monetary Union are informed of a proposal made by the Spanish Government on 25 September 1990. In preparation for the IGC, Spain reviews the reactions to the Delors Committee Report since 1989 and suggests a compromise between the various approaches.

In this interview, Alexandre Lamfalussy, General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) from 1985 to 1993 and President of the European Monetary Institute (EMI) from 1994 to 1997, describes the method employed by Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1994, to obtain the support of the Heads of Government of the main Member States — particularly the Federal Republic of Germany — so as to enable the introduction of a single European currency. He goes on to speak about the direct support offered by Helmut Kohl when Lamfalussy was President of the EMI.

In this interview, Jacques de Larosière, former Governor of the Bank of France and former member of the committee chaired by Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission, which had the task of studying and proposing the practical stages leading to the gradual establishment of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), explains France’s role in the European process of economic and monetary integration.

On 14 March 1990, the European Parliament adopts a resolution in which it emphasises, in particular, the need rapidly to transform ‘the European Community into a Political Union, on a federal basis, stretching beyond the single market and Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)’, and reiterates its determination to establish the conditions for Parliament’s involvement in the work of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC).

By this Resolution of 11 July 1990, the European Parliament welcomes the convening of a Conference on Political Union and the fact that the agenda of the forthcoming reform of the Treaties is to be widened beyond economic and monetary union. Whereas the division between external economic relations and European Political Cooperation (EPC) is increasingly difficult to maintain in practice, the European Parliament calls for these two aspects of the Community's international action to be dealt with within the Community framework.

In its Opinion of 21 October 1990, the European Commission advocates a single Community that will encompass the Community policies and European Political Cooperation (EPC), making them subject to the same institutions and to the same decision-making procedures.

On 6 December 1990, French President François Mitterrand and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl make a joint statement to Giulio Andreotti, President of the European Council, in which they advocate the establishment of a European political union.

On 24 September 1991, as the Intergovernmental Conference on Political Union is held during the Dutch Presidency, a draft treaty towards European Union is presented. This supplements the draft established by the Luxembourg Presidency.

In this interview, Élisabeth Guigou, French Minister for European Affairs from 1990 to 1993, describes the main discussions that took place during the Intergovernmental Conferences on Political Union and Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), launched on 15 December 1990 in Rome and on 9 and 10 December 1991 at the Maastricht European Council . These discussions led to the securing of an agreement on the Treaty on European Union.