The Maastricht Treaty

Justin Gibbins

Document Type

Book Chapter

Source of Publication

Britain, Europe and National Identity

Publication Date

1-1-2014

Abstract

This chapter sets out to examine the discourses surrounding the 1993 ratification of the Maastricht Treaty, formally called the Treaty on European Union or TEU. The primary sources utilised are listed in Appendix 2. An explanatory description along with Tables 3.1 and 3.2 reveals what has been said and written by political elites, which is grouped thematically and followed by their source numbers listed in the appendix. As with the previous empirical chapter, the numbers next to each quotation relate to the various sources in the appendix. Again, single quotation marks within the tables appear in the original. The sources can be categorised as follows. Firstly, I employ the general election manifestoes of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties in the 1992 general election principally as they are an attempt to convey elite perceptions on Europe to the wider public. Secondly, I utilise memoirs and biographies from dominant political figures and spokespeople. Again, these individuals were central actors within the event and they propagated important arguments, images and perceptions of Europe. Thirdly, I make use of other texts containing primary source statements and viewpoints. Finally, I examine the third parliamentary reading of the Maastricht Treaty, which took place on 20 May 1993. This parliamentary debate is important in two main ways.

Publisher

Palgrave Macmillan UK

First Page

80

Last Page

126

Disciplines

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Indexed in Scopus

no

Open Access

no

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