5 Sri Lanka J. Int'l L. 103 (1993)
Legal Implications of the Maastricht Treaty on European Union

handle is hein.journals/sljinl5 and id is 109 raw text is: LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE MAASTRICHT
Belgium, Denmark, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Ireland,
signed the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht Treaty) at Maastricht,
Netherlands on 7th February 1992.
The Treaty Articles provide for its entry into force on 1 st January 1993. The
political set back the Treaty received in the negative vote in the Danish
referendum and the wafer-thin majorities in the French referendum as well as
in the United Kingdom House of Commons, have had the effect of delaying the
original time-frame envisaged in the Treaty. However, at the recent Edinburgh
Summit, there were some positive developments towards restoring the Treaty
to the original course envisaged by its signatories.
In examining the far-reaching international legal implications, arising from
the Maastricht Treaty, it is important, particularly for those states outside the
European Community membership, to study the extent to which the Treaty
seeks to modify established principles of International Law and the legal
consequences arising from such changes, in the conduct of international
relations with member states of the European Community.
A secondary aspect which is of significance from the legal point of view,
would be the changes which the Maastricht Treaty seeks to effect on estab-
lished institutional structures within the European Community, such as the
European Parliament and the European Court of Justice.
The Maastricht Treaty comprises three principal segments. viz: (i) an
Economic and Monetary Union; (ii) a political union; and (iii) reforms of the
existing structure of the Community.
* Legal Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka; Visiting Lecturer, Faculty of Law,
University of Colombo. The views expressed here are those of the author and not of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs.

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