Editing European Union (section)

=== Treaties of Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice (1993{{Non breaking en dash}}2004) ===
{{Main|History of the European Union (1993–2004)}}

[[File:GER — BY — Regensburg - Donaumarkt 1 (Museum der Bayerischen Geschichte; Vertrag von Maastricht) (cropped).JPG|thumb|right|upright=1|[[Maastricht Treaty]] (1992), establishing the EU]]

The European Union was formally established when the [[Maastricht Treaty]]—whose main architects were [[Horst Köhler]],<ref>{{Cite news |first1=Michael M. |last1=Phillips |first2=Cecilie |last2=Rohwedder |first3=Erik |last3=Portanger|date=15 March 2000 |title=IMF Candidate Koehler Brings Solid Experience |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB953070920392677459 |access-date=21 December 2022}}</ref> [[Helmut Kohl]] and [[François Mitterrand]]—came into force on 1 November 1993.{{sfn|Craig |De Burca|2011|page=15}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Treaty of Maastricht on European Union |url=http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/economic_and_monetary_affairs/institutional_and_economic_framework/treaties_maastricht_en.htm |access-date=20 October 2007 |website=Activities of the European Union |publisher=Europa web portal}}</ref> The treaty also gave the name ''[[European Community]]'' to the EEC, even if it was referred to as such before the treaty. With further enlargement planned to include the former [[communist state]]s of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as [[Cyprus]] and [[Malta]], the [[Copenhagen criteria]] for candidate members to join the EU were agreed upon in June 1993. The expansion of the EU introduced a new level of complexity and discord.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hunt |first=Michael H. |title=The World Transformed, 1945 to the Present |publisher=Oxford University press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-937103-7 |location=New York |pages=516–517}}</ref> In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden [[1995 enlargement of the European Union|joined]] the EU.

In 2002, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 of the member states. Since then, the [[eurozone]] has increased to encompass 20 countries. The euro currency became the second-largest reserve currency in the world. In 2004, the EU saw [[2004 enlargement of the European Union|its biggest enlargement to date]] when Cyprus, the Czech Republic, [[Estonia]], [[Hungary]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], [[Malta]], [[Poland]], [[Slovakia]], and [[Slovenia]] joined the union.<ref name="Europa History 00">{{Cite web |title=A decade of further expansion |url=http://europa.eu/abc/history/2000_today/index_en.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211143505/http://europa.eu/abc/history/2000_today/index_en.htm |archive-date=11 February 2007 |access-date=25 June 2007 |publisher=Europa web portal}}</ref>