Flexibility and subsidiarity

Abstract

Flexibility has been considered a great deal in the Maastricht Treaty IGC but unfortunately, like many other words, such as federalism and subsidiarity, it is misunderstood. On the 16th and 17th June 1997, the Heads of State and Government of the fifteen countries of the European Union drew up a new Treaty for Europe - the Amsterdam Treaty. It lays the foundations for the Europe of the twenty-first century. This is why the Heads Of State and of Government of the European Union wanted the Treaty to be transparent and easy to understand. They also wanted to produce a Treaty responding to the European peoples' real concerns. The challenges ahead are considerable, but there are also opportunities. For the first time in five hundred years there is the chance to bring together the whole European continent, by enlarging the Union. But, before enlarging the Union to the East and to the South, EU leaders felt that it was important to bestow on the European Union a fresh identity. This is what they set out to do with the Treaty of Amsterdam.