What is the content of the Maastricht Treaty? ! Thank you!

1992, 17 In February, the foreign ministers and finance ministers of two European countries signed the Maastricht Treaty in Maastricht, the Netherlands, which is still the most important milestone in the process of European integration. The Maastricht Treaty covers many aspects, such as politics, economy, military affairs, justice, civil welfare and so on. However, the clause about the European Monetary Union is the core and the most controversial part. According to the treaty, the countries in the European Union (to be renamed as the EU) will complete the work of unifying the currency in three stages. The first stage is to strengthen the existing "European exchange rate mechanism" and realize the free circulation of capital; The second stage is to establish a "European monetary institution" to coordinate the monetary policies of European countries; The third stage is to establish a unified European currency (euro), upgrade the "European monetary institution" to the "European Central Bank" and formulate a unified monetary policy for EU countries.

If the above plan can be successfully completed, the euro will become a super currency comparable to the US dollar, the capital markets of EU 12 countries will be seamlessly connected, and the cost of capital circulation will be greatly reduced, which is very beneficial to the development of European financial industry. It is expected that European bankers and fund managers will take back large areas of land lost in the past decades from Americans and Japanese. However, the Maastricht Treaty cannot change the imbalance of economic development among EU countries, so it can only be a treaty with congenital deficiency and ill-fated. Germany, at the peak of economic prosperity, dominates the economic development of Europe as a whole, while Britain, ruled by the Conservative Party, is in deep recession. Italy's economic situation in southern Europe is worse than that in Britain. The British obviously know that unifying the European currency will only aggravate Germany's economic hegemony, and even make the "European monetary institution" synonymous with the German central bank, so they are afraid and suspicious. When signing the treaty, Britain asked the EU countries to recognize that it "has a single European currency". In other words, when the euro was established at the end of the 20th century, the pound will continue to exist and the Bank of England will continue to formulate monetary policy.

The British government is taking a compromise route with an uncertain future-if it does not join the European exchange rate mechanism (Britain joined at 1990) and the unified European monetary system, Britain will be thrown out of the door of the European integration process and eventually become a marginal role; If we get too involved in the European monetary system, or even give up the independent status of the pound, it will be tantamount to making Britain an economic slave of Germany and gradually losing London's position as a European financial center. Therefore, Britain can only cautiously "partially join". Once it finds that the water ahead is too deep, it can pull out the shore in time and return to the "glorious isolation" bunker.

Judging from today, the British government's decision is basically correct, but the timing is quite wrong. Before the Maastricht Treaty was signed, the pound was seriously overvalued, on the one hand, because the British economy was very depressed, on the other hand, because Britain had joined the European exchange rate mechanism, and its currency had to be linked to the currencies of other European countries, such as the mark, and floated within a certain range. If the pound depreciates or appreciates abnormally, European central banks have the obligation to intervene in the foreign exchange market and stabilize the pound exchange rate. The Maastricht Treaty further strengthened the European exchange rate mechanism, making the free floating space of the pound even narrower; Therefore, it is impossible for the British government to stimulate economic development and save the depressed British industry through the active depreciation of the pound.

After the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, the exchange rate between the pound and the mark was 1 2.95, which is undoubtedly too high. After the reunification of Germany and Germany, the German economy became overheated due to the influence of infrastructure construction in East Germany, and the Bundesbank had to raise interest rates to curb inflation, which brought greater pressure on the pound. In the face of the German central bank's interest rate hike, the Bank of England has only two choices: either follow the pace of Germany and raise the interest rate of the pound to maintain its competitiveness in the capital market; Either raise enough funds to buy a lot of pounds in the foreign exchange market and maintain the stability of the pound exchange rate. Both roads will pay a heavy price. If interest rates are raised, it will undoubtedly add the last unbearable boulder to Britain's sluggish economy; If funds are raised to stabilize the market, the British government and the central bank can't afford so much money at the moment, so they can only borrow from other governments or international organizations. Once the efforts to stabilize the market fail, the British government will suffer huge losses and bear a heavy foreign debt burden.

Under the severe situation at that time, the best way out for Britain was to persuade Germany to lower the interest rate of the mark and relieve the pressure of the appreciation of the pound. Unfortunately, the Germans don't want to help the British. The second is to persuade other European countries to temporarily tolerate the depreciation of the pound, and then let the pound return to the normal exchange rate floating range after the British economy recovers. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible for European countries to agree to this request; Thirdly, take the initiative to raise interest rates firmly, stabilize the current situation at the expense of economic recovery, and let financial speculators all over the world understand the British government's determination to maintain the exchange rate of the pound, so as to at least maintain Britain's credibility. However, the British Conservative government at that time could not have such courage. Prime Minister Major, who came to power through a "palace coup", completely lacked the ability to deal with complex economic problems, so he was called one of the worst prime ministers in British history in the future.

Opposite the British government and the central bank, there are a group of financial speculators with great energy but little known. They come from a financial investment institution called hedge fund. Ordinary people earning less than $200,000 a year can't know any hedge fund managers, because they only manage property for the rich and large institutions; They keep a low profile, rarely publicize their achievements, and do not undertake the obligation of information disclosure of general financial institutions. They can short, engage in high-risk speculative strategies, and transfer funds from one asset to another at an alarming rate, and from one market to another. They have high-quality talents and streamlined institutions. A talented fund manager and a few smart analysts are enough to command a fund with hundreds of millions of dollars. If you add a few excellent traders, this fund can create almost any storm.

Until 65438+ in the early 1990s, financial regulators were not fully aware of the energy of hedge funds; By the time they realized it, it was too late. The world's most powerful macro hedge fund, led by george soros, a Jew, will launch a face-to-face duel with the British government.