Maastricht: The birth of the European Union

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 15 February 2019

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In February 1992, European ministers from 12 countries signed a treaty that would lead towards greater economic and political unity. The European Union would become the biggest free trading bloc in the world, but over the years it has survived several rocky moments as individual countries have questioned whether they want to be included. Senior EU Official Jim Cloos was one of those involved in drafting the Maastricht Treaty, and he explained to Rebecca Kesby how exciting it was to be involved in the project in those early days.

(Photo: The flag logo of The European Union)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
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1:04.7	sounds.
1:06.7	Hello and thank you for downloading this edition of Witness History with me Rebecca Kessby.
1:15.5	And today we go back to February 1992 and the signing of a treaty that would shape the entire political
1:21.8	and economic future of Europe.
1:24.6	The Maastricht Treaty is the cornerstone of what would become the European Union.
1:29.5	I've been speaking to one of the people who drafted it.
1:33.0	European Community Ministers have signed the new treaty committing the 12 member countries
	...

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