The European monetary union did not originate in Maastricht, but in Valkenburg. That is what MEP Esther de Lange says on the thirtieth anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty.
French President Mitterrand had taken up residence in 1991 in the Valkenburg hotel Juliana, then part of a prestigious French chain.
“Mitterrand was already ill, he had to have a safe place to house his doctors, his employees, his cook and his entourage,” said Esther de Lange, who herself lived ten kilometers away in Spaubeek at the time of the negotiations.
Consultation Italy, France and Germany
“In Hotel Juliana, a dinner was held with the Italian Prime Minister Andreotti. There Andreotti said that he wanted to put a specific year on the introduction of the euro, namely 1999. Until that moment they had actually been mainly engaged in the discussion under which conditions that euro could come in. But Andreotti wanted to put a date on it. Mitterrand agreed and tested the proposal the next morning at Kohl’s with a breakfast with lots of cold meats. When Germany and France agreed, it is the same day at the European Well presented. I always make the people of Maastricht very angry when I say this, but the euro was born in Valkenburg, not in Maastricht.”
German mark sacrificed
Portuguese Prime Minister Cavaco Silva was closely involved in negotiations in December 1991 as the next EU president. He confirms De Lange’s reading and emphasizes the political courage of German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. “The Deutsche Mark determined the economic policy of France. Due to the economic power of Germany, France had no choice but to follow German decisions about interest or exchange rates. Mitterrand wanted an independent institution for the European Economic and Monetary Union. I supported him in that. The Bundesbank couldn’t decide for all the other member states, so there was a European Central Bank, but that also meant that the country with the strongest currency had to sacrifice its Deutsche Mark, only because a guy like Helmut Kohl was working in Germany rudder was.”
Unique Treaty
The Portuguese Prime Minister presided over the ceremonial signing of the Maastricht Treaty on February 7, 1992, as Portugal led the European Union. “I want to emphasize once again how historic the Maastricht Treaty was. It is truly a landmark in European but also world history. Never before, in no other part of the world, has a political project got off the ground in which countries transfer a lot of their own autonomy. And I don’t see it happening in the future either.”
Legacy of the Maastricht Treaty
In the context of the 30th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty, L1 a documentary about the legacy of that treaty. In it, the Portuguese former prime minister looks back on the negotiations that led to the historic agreement, which forms the basis for the current European Union.