Maastricht
/ˈmɑːstrɪkt/
/ˈmɑːstrɪkt/
- a city in the Netherlands. The leaders of the 12 countries of the European Community met there in 1992 to sign the Maastricht Treaty, an agreement about closer union between European countries. CultureThe treaty included plans to have a single currency, a shared defence force and a more powerful European Parliament. Many people in Britain were opposed to the agreement, and there were arguments about it within the British Conservative government, which were an important factor in their defeat at the election of 1997. A new version of the Treaty was signed in Amsterdam in 1997 by the British Labour government. Further new versions were signed in Nice in 2001 and Lisbon in 2007.see also Eurosceptic, European Union