The 10th anniversary of the Treaty of Maastricht was celebrated on 1st November. The Treaty gave the official go-ahead to the single currency and to the financial rules to participate in the euro. Born when the Union was still the European Economic Community, the Treaty was signed in the Dutch city of the same name in the course of the European summit in December 1991 and came into force on 1st November 1993. It has permitted Europe to progress in many sectors: the introduction of the principle of subsidiarity, the role of the Regions and local authorities in the Community decision-making process, the powers of the European Parliament, the definition of the first draft of foreign and common security policy, the common defence policy and the European social agenda.
