Editing Maastricht Treaty (section)

===Ratification===
[[File:Treaty of Maastricht Ratification Map.svg|thumb|right|200px|Ratification of the treaty was completed by the twelve members of the EC by mid-1993 and came into legal force on 1 November 1993.]] 
The Treaty noted that it should be "ratified by the High Contracting Parties in accordance with their respective constitutional requirement".<ref>TEU p. 139</ref> In the cases of Denmark, France and Ireland this required referendums.<ref>Parsons, Craig (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=jAIuJyglmk8C&pg=PA202 ''A Certain Idea of Europe'']. Cornell University Press. p.202. {{ISBN|978-0-8014-4086-1}}</ref>

In the [[1992 Danish Maastricht Treaty referendum|first Danish referendum]], on 2 June 1992, the treaty was rejected by a margin of 50.7% to 49.3%.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-04-mn-1350-story.html |title=EC Leaders at Sea Over Danish Rejection: Europe: Vote against Maastricht Treaty blocks the march to unity. Expansion plans may also be in jeopardy. |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=7 December 2011 |first=Joel |last=Havemann |date=4 June 1992}}</ref> Concessions secured by the end of year in [[Edinburgh Agreement (1992)|Edinburgh]] including, critically, the same exemption secured by Britain from the single currency (Denmark would not have to give up the [[Danish krone|krone]]), allowed for a [[1993 Danish Maastricht Treaty referendum|second referendum]]. On 18 May 1993, the Maastricht Treaty was endorsed by a vote of 56.7%.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/europe/euro-glossary/1216944.stm |title=In Depth: Maastricht Treaty |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=30 April 2001 |access-date=4 May 2013}}</ref>

In Ireland, the [[Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland|Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution]], allowing the state to ratify the Treaty, was approved in a referendum held on 18 June 1992 with the support of 69.1% of votes cast.

In September 1992, a [[1992 French Maastricht Treaty referendum|referendum in France]] narrowly supported the ratification of the treaty, with 50.8% in favour. This narrow vote for ratification in France, known at the time as the '{{lang|fr|italics=no|petit oui}}', led [[Jacques Delors]] to comment that "Europe began as an elitist project in which it was believed that all that was required was to convince the decision-makers. That phase of benign despotism is over."<ref>Anell, Lars (2014). [http://www.forumeudebatt.se/content/uploads/2014/05/Rapport-7-Anell-slutversion.pdf ''Democracy in Europe – An essay on the real democratic problem in the European Union'']. p.23. [http://www.forumeudebatt.se/ Forum för EU-Debatt].</ref>

In the United Kingdom parliament ratification did not command a clear majority. In protest against the social-policy opt out, [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] opposed, while "anti-federalists" split the governing [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]]. Prime Minister [[John Major]] was able to face down his "[[Maastricht Rebels]]" only by tying ratification to the survival of the government in a vote of confidence.<ref>{{cite news |author=Goodwin, Stephen |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-maastricht-debate-major-driven-to-confidence-factor-commons-exchanges-treaty-issue-cannot-fester-any-longer-1486498.html |title=The Maastricht Debate: Major 'driven to confidence factor': Commons Exchanges: Treaty issue 'cannot fester any longer' |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |location=London |date=23 July 1993 |access-date=4 May 2013}}</ref> (Researchers and observers suggest that, in the United Kingdom, the Maastricht Treaty represented "a critical turning point" in terms of divisions within the Conservative Party over European integration and the ruling party' ultimate fragmentation in 2016 into [[Leave Campaign|Leave]] and [[Britain Stronger in Europe|Remain]] factions).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heppell |first=Timothy |date=1 October 2021 |title=From Maastricht to Brexit : Mapping the European Divide within the Parliamentary Conservative Party from Major to Johnson |url=https://journals.openedition.org/osb/5418 |journal=Observatoire de la société britannique |language=en |issue=27 |pages=171–194 |doi=10.4000/osb.5418 |s2cid=247417281 |issn=1775-4135}}</ref>

In Germany, the Maastricht Treaty passed the [[Bundestag]] on December 2, 1992, with a majority of 543 out of 562, and the [[German Bundesrat|Bundesrat]] with unanimity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hard-won ratification - Historical events in the European integration process (1945–2009) - CVCE Website |url=https://www.cvce.eu/en/education/unit-content/-/unit/02bb76df-d066-4c08-a58a-d4686a3e68ff/575bee62-ba08-401f-b3b2-cda7cb0f2b6b |access-date=2024-05-07 |website=www.cvce.eu}}</ref> The Bundestag was required to amend the [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany|Grundgesetz]] (German Basic Law) to “legalize Germany’s membership in the European Union (Article 23) as well as to install a European Monetary Union (Article 88).”<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Wieland |first=Joachim |date=1994 |title=Germany in the European Union - The Maastricht Decision of the Bundesverfassungsgericht |url=https://academic.oup.com/ejil/article/5/2/259/501213 |journal=European Journal of International Law |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=259–266 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.ejil.a035870 |via=https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.ejil.a035870}}</ref> The ratification was delayed by challenges at the German [[Federal Constitutional Court]], the complainants claiming the amendments transferring sovereign competencies to the European Union violated democratic principles (Article 20 and 38(1)) of the Grundgesetz that were unamendable (Article 79(3)); hence the Maastricht Treaty should be inadmissible.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Wiegandt |first=Manfred |date=1995-01-01 |title=Germany's International Integration: The Rulings of the German Federal Constitutional Court on the Maastricht Treaty and the Out-of-Area Deployment of German Troops |url=https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/auilr/vol10/iss2/11 |journal=American University International Law Review |volume=10 |issue=2}}</ref> The court delivered its judgment on October 12, 1993 ruling the Maastricht Treaty compatible with the Grundgesetz, but provided that the European Union could not endow itself with more powers without the Bundestag’s approval.<ref name=":0" /> The court also confirmed its Solange II decision accepting the supremacy of [[European Court of Justice]] decisions while retaining the power to review secondary community law as to guarantee basic rights protection in close cooperation with the European Court of Justice.<ref name=":1" /> Germany was the last member state to ratify the treaty and it entered into force on November 1, 1993.