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The Treaty of the European Union

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TITLE5
PROVISIONS ON A COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY

ARTICLE J
A common foreign and security policy is hereby established which
shall be governed by the following provisions.

ARTICLE J.1
1. The union and its Member States shall define and implement a
common foreign and security policy, governed by the provisions of the
Title and covering all areas of foreign and security policy.
2. The objectives of the common foreign and security policy shall be:
- to safeguard the common values, fundamental interests and
independence of the Union;
- to strengthen the security of the Union and its Member States in all
ways;
- to preserve peace and strengthen international security, in
accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter as well as
the principles of the Helsinki Final Act and the objectives of the Paris
Charter;
- to promote international co-operation;
- to develop and consolidate democracy and the rule of law, and
respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
3. The Union shall pursue these objectives;
- by establishing systematic co-operation between Member States in
the conduct of policy, in accordance with Article J.2;
- by gradually implementing, in accordance with Article J.3, joint action
in the areas in which the Member States have important interests in
common.
4. The Member States shall support the Union's external and security
policy actively and unreservedly in a spirit of loyalty and mutual
solidarity. They shall refrain from any action which is contrary to the
interests of the Union or likely to impair its effectiveness as a
cohesive force in international relations. The Council shall ensure that
these principles are complied with.

ARTICLE J.2
1. Member States shall inform and consult one another within the
Council on any matter of foreign and security policy of general interest
in order to ensure that their combined influence is exerted as
effectively as possible by means of concerted and convergent action.
2. Whenever it deems it necessary, the Council shall define a common
position.
Member States shall ensure that their national policies conform on the
common positions.
3. Member States shall co-ordinate their action in international
organizations and at international conferences. They shall uphold the
common positions in such fora.
In international organizations and at international conferences where
not all the Member States participate, those which do take part shall
uphold the common positions.

ARTICLE J.3
The procedure for adopting joint action in matters covered by foreign
and security policy shall be the following:
1. The Council shall decide, on the basis of general guidelines from
the European Council, that a matter should be the subject of joint
action.
Whenever the Council decides on the principle of joint action, it shall
lay down the specific scope, the Union's general and specific
objectives in carrying out such action, if necessary its duration, and
the means, procedures and conditions for its implementation.
2. The Council shall, when adopting the joint action and at any stage
during its development, define those matters on which decisions are
to be taken by a qualified majority.
Where the Council is required to act by a qualified majority pursuant to
the preceding subparagraph, the votes of its members shall be
weighted in accordance with Article 148(2) of the Treaty establishing
the European Community, and for their adoption, acts of the Council
shall require at least fifty-four votes in favour, cast by at least eight
members.
3. If there is a change in circumstances having a substantial effect on
a question subject to joint action, the Council shall review the
principles and objectives of that action and take the necessary
decisions. As long as the Council has not acted, the joint action shall
stand.
4. Joint actions shall commit the Member States in the positions they
adopt and in the conduct of their activity.
5. Whenever there is any plan to adopt a national position or take
national action pursuant to a joint action, information shall be provided
in time to allow, if necessary, for prior consultations within the Council.
The obligation to provide prior information shall not apply to measures
which are merely a national transposition of Council decisions.
6. In cases of imperative need arising from changes in the situation
and failing a Council decision, Member States may take the necessary
measures as a matter of urgency having regard to the general
objectives of the joint action. The Member State concerned shall
inform the Council immediately of any such measures.
7. Should there be any major difficulties in implementing a joint action,
a Member State shall refer them to the Council which shall discuss
them and seek appropriate solutions. Such solutions shall not run
counter to the objectives of the joint action or impair its effectiveness.

ARTICLE J.4
1. The common foreign and security policy shall include all questions
related to the security of the Union, including the eventual framing of a
common defence policy, which might in time lead to a common
defence.
2. The union requests the Western European Union (WEU), which is an
integral part of the development of the Union, to elaborate and
implement decisions and actions of the Union which have defence
implications. The Council shall, in agreement with the institutions of
the WEU, adopt the necessary practical arrangements.
3. Issues having defence implications dealt with under this Article
shall not be subject to the procedures set out in Article J.3.
4. The policy of the Union in accordance with this Article shall not
prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of
certain Member States and shall respect the obligations of certain
Member States under the North Atlantic Treaty and be compatible with
the common security and defence policy established within that
framework.
5. The provisions of this Article shall not prevent the development of
closer co-operation between two or more Member States on a bilateral
level, in the framework of the WEU and the Atlantic Alliance, provided
such co-operation does not run counter to or impede that provided for
in this Title.
6. With a view to furthering the objective of this Treaty, and having in
view the date of 1998 in the context of Article XII of the Brussels
Treaty, the provisions of this Article may be revised as provided for in
Article N(2) on the basis of a report to be presented in 1996 by the
Council to the European Council, which shall include an evaluation of
the progress made and the experience gained until then.

ARTICLE J.5
1. The Presidency shall represent the Union in matters coming within
the common foreign and security policy.
2. The Presidency shall be responsible for the implementation of
common measures; in that capacity it shall in principle express the
position of the Union in international organizations and international
conferences.
3. In the tasks referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, the presidency shall
be assisted if needs be by the previous and next Member States to
hold the Presidency. The Commission shall be fully associated in
these tasks.
4. Without prejudice to Article J.2(3) and Article J.3(4), Member States
represented in international organizations or international conferences
where not all the Member States participate shall keep the latter
informed of any matter of common interest.
Member States which are also members of the United Nations Security
Council will concert and keep the other Member States fully informed.
Member States which are permanent members of the Security Council
will, in the execution of their functions, ensure the defence of the
positions and the interests of the union, without prejudice to their
responsibilities under the provisions of the United Nations Charter.

ARTICLE J.6
The diplomatic and consular missions of the Member States and the
Commission Delegations in third countries and international
conferences, and their representations to international organizations,
shall co-operate in ensuring that the common positions and common
measures adopted by the Council are complied with and implemented.
They shall step up co-operation by exchanging information, carrying
out joint assessments and contributing to the implementation of the
provisions referred to in Article 8c of the Treaty establishing the
European Community.

ARTICLE J.7
The Presidency shall consult the European Parliament on the main
aspects and the basic choices of the common foreign and security
policy and shall ensure that the views of the European Parliament are
duly taken into consideration. The European Parliament shall be kept
regularly informed by the Presidency and the Commission of the
development of the Union's foreign and security policy.
The European Parliament may ask questions of the Councils or make
recommendations to it. It shall hold an annual debate on progress in
implementing the common foreign and security policy.

ARTICLE J.8
1. The European Council shall define the principles of and general
guidelines for the common foreign and security policy.
2. The Council shall take the decisions necessary for defining and
implementing the common foreign and security policy on the basis of
the general guidelines adopted by the European Council. It shall
ensure the unity, consistency and effectiveness of action by the
Union.
The Council shall act unanimously, except for procedural questions
and in the case referred to in Article J.3(2).
3. Any Member State or the Commission may refer to the Council any
question relating to the common foreign policy and may submit
proposals to the Council.
4. In cases requiring a rapid decision, the Presidency, of its own
motion, or at the request of the Commission or a Member State, shall
convene an extraordinary Council meeting within forty-eight hours or,
in an emergency, within a shorter period.
5. Without prejudice to Article 151 of the Treaty establishing the
European Community, a Political Committee consisting of Political
Directors shall monitor the international situation in the areas covered
by common foreign and security policy and contribute to the definition
of policies by delivering opinions to the Council at the request of the
Council or on its own initiative. It shall also monitor the
implementation of agreed policies, without prejudice to the
responsibility of the Presidency and the Commission.

ARTICLE J.9
The Commission shall be fully associated with the work carried out in
the common foreign and security policy field.

ARTICLE J.10
On the occasion of any review of the security provisions under Article
J.4, the Conference which is convened to that effect shall also
examine whether any other amendments need to be made to
provisions relating to the common foreign and security policy.

ARTICLE J.11
1. The provisions referred to in Articles 137, 138, 139 to 142, 146, 147,
150 to 153, 157 to 163 and 217 of the Treaty establishing the
European Community shall apply to the provisions relating to the
areas referred to in this Title.
2. Administrative expenditure which the provisions relating to the
areas referred to in this Title entail for the institutions shall be charged
to the budget of the European Communities.
The Council may also:
- either decide unanimously that operational expenditure to which the
implementation of those provisions gives rise is to be charged to the
budget of the European Communities; in that event, the budgetary
procedure laid down in the Treaty establishing the European
Community shall be applicable;
- or determine that such expenditure shall be charged to the Member
States, where appropriate in accordance with a scale to be decided.


TITLE6
PROVISIONS ON COOPERATION IN THE FIELDS OF JUSTICE AND
HOME AFFAIRS

ARTICLE K
Co-operation in the fields of justice and home affairs shall be
governed by the following provisions.

ARTICLE K.1
For the purposes of achieving the objectives of the Union, in particular
the free movement of persons, and without prejudice to the powers of
the European Community, Member States shall regard the following
areas as matters of common interest:
1. asylum policy;
2. rules governing the crossing by persons of the external borders of
the Member States and the exercise of controls thereon;
3. immigration policy and policy regarding nationals of third countries;
(a) conditions of entry and movement by nationals of third countries
on the territory of Member States;
(b) conditions of residence by nationals of third countries on the
territory of Member States, including family reunion and access to
employment;
(c) combatting unauthorized immigration, residence and work by
nationals of third countries on the territory of Member States;
4. combating drug addiction in so far as this is not covered by 7 to 9;
5. combating fraud on an international scale in so far as this is not
covered by 7 to 9;
6. judicial co-operation in civil matters;
7. judicial co-operation in criminal matters;
8. customs co-operation;
9. police co-operation for the purposes of preventing and combating
terrorism, unlawful drug trafficking and other serious forms of
international crime, including if necessary certain aspects of customs
co-operation, in connection with the organization of a Union-wide
system for exchanging information within a European Police Office
(Europol).

ARTICLE K.2
1. The matters referred to in Article K.1 shall be dealt with in
compliance with the European Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 4 November 1950 and the
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951 and
having regard to the protection afforded by Member States to persons
persecuted on political grounds.
2. This Title shall not affect the exercise of the responsibilities
incumbent upon Member States with regard to the maintenance of law
and order and the safeguarding of internal security.

ARTICLE K.3
1. In the areas referred to in Article K.1, Member States shall inform
and consult one another within the Council with a view to co-ordinating
their action. To that end, they shall establish collaboration between the
relevant departments of their administrations.
2. The Council may:
- on the initiative of any Member State or of the Commission, in the
areas referred to in Article K.1(1) to (6);
- on the initiative of any Member State, in the areas referred to Article
K1(7) to (9):
(a) adopt joint positions and promote, using the appropriate form and
procedures, any co-operation contributing to the pursuit of the
objectives of the Union;
(b) adopt joint action in so far as the objectives of the Union can be
attained better by joint action than by the Member States acting
individually on account of the scale or effects of the action envisaged;
it may decide that measures implementing joint action are to be
adopted by a qualified majority;
(c) without prejudice to Article 220 of the Treaty establishing the
European Community, draw up conventions which it shall recommend
to the Member States for adoption in accordance with their respective
constitutional requirements.
Unless otherwise provided by such conventions, measures
implementing them shall be adopted within the Council by a majority
of two-thirds of the High Contracting Parties.
Such conventions may stipulate that the Court of Justice shall have
jurisdiction to interpret their provisions and to rule on any disputes
regarding their application, in accordance with such arrangements as
they may lay down.

ARTICLE K.4
1. A Co-ordinating Committee shall be set up consisting of senior
officials. In additions to its co-ordinating role, it shall be the task of the
Committee to;
- give opinions for the attention of the Council, either at the Councils
request or on its own initiative;
- contribute, without prejudice to Article 151 of the Treaty establishing
the European Community, to the preparation of the Council's
discussions in the areas referred to in Article K.1 and, in accordance
with the conditions laid down in Article 100d of the Treaty establishing
the European Community, in the areas referred to in Article 100c of that
Treaty.
2. The Commission shall be fully associated with the work in the areas
referred to in this Title.
3. The Council shall act unanimously, except on matters of procedure
and in cases where Article K.3 expressly provides for other voting
rules.
Where the Council is required to act by a qualified majority, the votes
of its members shall be weighted as laid down in Article 148(2) of the
Treaty establishing the European Community, and for their adoption,
acts of the Council shall require at least fifty-four votes in favour, cast
by at least eight members.

ARTICLE K.5
Within international organizations and at international conferences in
which they take part, Member States shall defend the common
positions adopted under the provisions of this Title.

ARTICLE K.6
The Presidency and the Commission shall regularly inform the
European Parliament of discussions in the areas covered by this Title.
The Presidency shall consult the European Parliament on the principal
aspects of activities in the areas referred to in this Title and shall
ensure that the views of the European Parliament are duly taken into
consideration.
The European Parliament may ask questions of the Council or make
recommendations to it. Each year, it shall hold a debate on the
progress made in implementation of the areas referred to in this Title.

ARTICLE K.7
The provisions of this Title shall not prevent the establishment or
development of closer co-operation between two or more Member
States in so far as such co-operation does not conflict with, or impede,
that provided for in this Title.

ARTICLE K.8
1. The provisions referred to in Article 137,138,139 top 142, 146, 147,
150 to 153, 157 to 163 and 217 of the Treaty establishing the
European Community shall apply to the provisions relating to the
areas referred to in this Title.
2. Administrative expenditure which the provisions relating to the
areas referred to in this Title entail for the institutions shall be charged
to the budget of European Communities.
The Council may also:
- either decide unanimously that operational expenditure to which the
implementation of those provisions gives rise is to be charged to the
budget of the European Communities; in that event, the budgetary
procedure laid down in the treaty establishing the European
Community shall be applicable;
- or determine that such expenditure shall be charged to the Member
States, where appropriate in accordance with a scale to be decided.

ARTICLE K.9
The Council, acting unanimously on the initiative of the Commission or
a Member State, may decide to apply Article 100c of the Treaty
establishing the European Community to action in areas referred to in
Article K.1(1) to (6), and at the same time determine the relevant voting
conditions relating to it. It shall recommend the Member States to
adopt that decision in accordance with their respective constitutional
requirements.


TITLE7
FINAL PROVISIONS

ARTICLE L
The provisions of the Treaty establishing the European Community,
the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community and
the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community
concerning the powers of the Court of Justice of the European
Communities and the exercise of those powers shall apply only to the
following provisions of this Treaty:
(a) provisions amending the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, the Treaty establishing the European Coal and
Steel Community and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic
Energy Community;
(b) the third subparagraph of Article K.3(2)(c);
(c) articles L to S.

ARTICLE M
Subject to the provisions amending the Treaty establishing the
European Economic Community with a view to establishing the
European Community, the Treaty establishing the European Coal and
Steel Community and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic
Energy Community, and to these final provisions, nothing in this
Treaty shall effect the Treaties establishing the European
Communities or the subsequent Treaties and Acts modifying or
supplementing them.

ARTICLE N
1. The government of any Member State or the Commission may
submit to the Council proposals for the amendment of the Treaties on
which the Union is founded.
If the Council, after consulting the European Parliament and, where
appropriate, the Commission, delivers an opinion in favour of calling a
conference of representatives of the governments of the Member
States, the conference shall be convened by the President of the
Council for the purpose of determining by common accord the
amendments to be made to those Treaties. The European Central Bank
shall also be consulted in the case of institutional changes in the
monetary area.
The amendments shall enter into force after being ratified by all the
Member States in accordance with their respective constitutional
requirements.
2. A conference of representatives of the governments of the Member
States shall be convened in 1996 to examine those provisions of this
Treaty for which revision is provided, in accordance with the
objectives set out in Articles A and B.

ARTICLE O
Any European State may apply to become a Member of the Union. It
shall address its application to the Council, which shall act
unanimously after consulting the Commission and after receiving the
assent of the European Parliament, which shall act by an absolute
majority of its component members.
The conditions of admission and the adjustments to the Treaties on
which the Union is founded which such admission entails shall be the
subject of an agreement between the Member States and the applicant
State. This agreement shall be submitted for ratification by all the
contracting States in accordance with their respective constitutional
requirements.

ARTICLE P
1. Articles 2 to 7 and 10 to 19 of the Treaty establishing a single
Council and a single Commission of the European Communities,
signed in Brussels on 8 April 1965, are hereby repealed.
2. Article 2, Article 3(2) and Title III of the Single European Act signed in
Luxembourg on 17 February 1986 and in the Hague on February 1986
are hereby repealed.

ARTICLE Q
This Treaty is concluded for an unlimited period.

ARTICLE R
1. This Treaty shall be ratified by the High Contracting Parties in
accordance with their respective constitutional requirements. The
instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the government of
the Italian Republic.
2. This Treaty shall enter into force on 1 January 1993, provided that
all the instruments of ratification have been deposited, or, failing that,
on the first day of the month following the deposit of the instrument of
ratification by the last signatory State to take this step.

ARTICLE S
This Treaty, drawn up in a single original in the Danish, Dutch,
English, French, German, Greek, Irish, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish
languages, the texts in each of these languages being equally
authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the government of the
Italian Republic, which will transmit a certified copy to each of the
governments of the other signatory States.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned Plenipotentiaries have
signed this Treaty.
Done at Maastricht on the seventh day of February one thousand nine
hundred and ninety two
[ here follow the signatures ]


PROTOCOL
ON THE ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY IN DENMARK
THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES,
DESIRING to settle certain particular problems relating to Denmark,
HAVING AGREED UPON the following provision, which shall be
annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community:
Notwithstanding the provisions of this Treaty, Denmark may maintain
the existing legislation on the acquisition of second homes.

PROTOCOL
CONCERNING ARTICLE 119 OF THE TREATY ESTABLISHING THE
EUROPEAN COMMUNITY
THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES,
HAVE AGREED UPON the following provision, which shall be annexed
to the treaty establishing the European Community:
For the purposes of Article 119 of this Treaty, benefits under
occupational social security schemes shall not be considered as
remuneration if an in so far as they are attributable to periods of
employment prior to 17 May 1990, except in the case of workers or
those claiming under them who have before that date initiated legal
proceedings or introduced an equivalent claim under the applicable
national law.

PROTOCOL
ON THE STATUTE OF THE EUROPEAN SYSTEM OF CENTRAL BANKS
AND OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES,
DESIRING to lay down the Statute of the European System of Central
Banks and of the European Central Bank provided for in Article 4a of
the Treaty establishing the European Community.
HAVE AGREED upon the following provisions, which shall be annexed
to the treaty establishing the European Community:

CHAPTER 1
CONSTITUTION OF THE ESCB
ARTICLE 1
The European System of Central Banks.
1.1. The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the European
Central Bank (ECB) shall be established in accordance with Article 4a
of this Treaty; they shall perform their tasks and carry on their
activities in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty of this
Statute.
1.2. In accordance with Article 106(1) on this Treaty, the ESCB shall be
composed of the ECB and of the central banks of the Member States
("national central banks"). The Insitut monetaire luxembourgeois will
be the central bank of Luxembourg.

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