In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1987 to 1997, discusses the context of the intergovernmental conferences that would lead to the Treaty of Maastricht and particularly focuses on Belgium’s position in support of the political dimension, set out in a memorandum (dated 29 March 1990) that was largely drafted by de Schoutheete himself.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1987 to 1997, describes how Belgium was represented at the two intergovernmental conferences that led to the Treaty of Maastricht, particularly emphasising the proactive role of the Permanent Representation in determining Belgium’s positions.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1987 to 1997, describes the secret nature of the work of the Delors Committee that preceded the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); this secrecy was permitted to encourage its success.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1987 to 1997, recalls the problems that arose during the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), following the Delors Report; these were particularly related to institutional matters and to the potential non-participation of some Member States.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1987 to 1997, describes the origins of the principle of subsidiarity and the reasons for its emergence as a fundamental principle of the European Union.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1987 to 1997, describes the difficulties that arose in Belgium concerning the recognition of the right to vote in local elections for residents from other EU countries, both during the negotiations for the Treaty of Maastricht and when the treaty was implemented.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1987 to 1997, looks back at the circumstances surrounding the ‘Black Monday’ (30 September 1991) of the Dutch Presidency, which — following various misunderstandings — had submitted a new draft treaty that was more ‘integrationist’ (tree image) than the former Luxembourg proposal (Greek temple image), but in the end was only supported by Belgium. The approach put forward by Luxembourg would go on to be enshrined in the Treaty of Maastricht.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1987 to 1997, emphasises the important role played by Helmut Kohl in the successful completion of the treaty, describes the role played by the Benelux countries and discusses the particular involvement of Finance and Foreign Ministers, who would play a lesser role in subsequent IGCs.