Case 294 - Understanding Policy Making in the European Union--The 1991 Negotiations of the Common Foreign and Security Policy Components of the Maastricht Treaty

Anderson, Stephanie

This case study examines the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) negotiations of the Maastricht Treaty on European Union. European integration is a fascinating experiment that, on the positive side, has repaired the Franco-German rift, laid the groundwork for peace on the continent, and created prosperity for hundreds of millions of people. But on the negative side, it has laid down a set of complicated, undemocratic institutions whose rhetoric often falls short of reality.

The Maastricht Treaty on European Union was the most ambitious and comprehensive constitutional change in the European Community since the Treaty of Rome in 1957. The transformation of the E.C. into the E.U., and the addition of a foreign policy and security component, were supposed to render Europeans less dependent on the United States and, consequently, more active on the world stage. This simulation seeks to transport students back to when the decisions leading up to the treaty; in this way, they will understand what the European Union is, how it sees itself, and what it wants to be.