The UK & the negotiation of the Maastrict Treaty, 1990-1991

This thesis analyses UK engagement in the 1990-91 Maastricht Treaty negotiations by focusing on four specific case studies: Social Policy, Economic and Monetary Union, Common Foreign and Security Policy, and Political Union. In contrast to the other three, Political Union does not cover one specific topic, but embraces several issues such as treaty design and institutional reform. These case studies are complemented by analysis of policy co-ordination at both the UK and Community level, as well as discussion of the period prior to the commencement of the Political Union and Monetary Union Intergovernmental Conferences.;The approach is that of the contemporary historian, providing a micro-level analysis, detailing the influence of individual government Ministers on differing aspects of the negotiations, and describing the reasoning behind decisions to be flexible on certain topics and inflexible on others. No attempt is made to create an identikit model of European integration.;The theoretical gel is that of domestic politics and 'two-level' game playing, both demonstrating the constraints imposed on governments and negotiators at the European level.;The originality of this research stems from the new sources used and the approach: covering both Monetary Union and Political Union, for example, when previous work has focused on one or other. Among other sources, information is based both on elite interviews and a questionnaire distributed to Conservative MPs and members of the government who sat in Parliament during 1990-91.