The Treaty Of The European Union, Maastricht Treaty, 7th February, 1992 Part 13

PROTOCOL ON THE CONVERGENCE CRITERIA REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 109j OF THE TREATY ESTABLIs.h.i.+NG THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, DESIRING to lay down the details of the convergence criteria which shall guide the Community in taking decisions on the pa.s.sage to the third stage of economic and monetary union, referred to in Article 109j(1) of this Treaty, HAVE AGREED upon the following provisions, which shall be annexed to the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community: ARTICLE 1 The criterion on price stability referred to in the first indent of Article 109j(1) of this Treaty shall mean that a Member State has a price performance that is sustainable and an average rate of inflation, observed over a period of one year before the examination, that does not exceed by more than 1 1/2 percentage points that of, at most, the three best performing Member States in terms of price stability.

Inflation shall be measured by means of the consumer price index on a comparable basis, taking into account differences in national definitions.

ARTICLE 2 The criterion on the government budgetary position referred to in the second indent of Article 109j(1) of this treaty shall mean that at the time of the examination the Member State is not the subject of a Council decision under Article 104c(6) of this Treaty that an excessive deficit exists.

ARTICLE 3 The criterion on partic.i.p.ation in the Exchange Rate mechanism of the European Monetary System referred to in the third indent of Article 109j(1) of this Treaty shall mean that a Member State has respected the normal fluctuation margins provided for by the Exchange Rate Mechanism of the European Monetary System without severe tensions for at least the last two years before the examination. In particular, the Member State shall not have devalued its currency's bilateral central rate against any other Member State's currency on its own initiative for the same period.

ARTICLE 4 The criterion on the convergence of interest rates referred to in the fourth indent of Article 109j(1) of this Treaty shall mean that, observed over a period of one year before the examination, a Member State has had an average nominal long-term interest rate that does not exceed by more than 2 percentage points that of, at most, the three best performing Member States in terms of price stability. Interest rates shall be measured on the basis of long term government bonds or comparable securities, taking into account differences in national definitions.

ARTICLE 5 The statistical data to be used for the application of this protocol shall be provided by the Commission.

ARTICLE 6 The Council shall, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the European Parliament, the EMI or the ECB as the case may be, and the Committee referred to in Article 109c, adopt appropriate provisions to lay down the details of the convergence criteria referred to Article 109j of this Treaty, which shall then replace this Protocol.

PROTOCOL AMENDING THE PROTOCOL ON THE PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, CONSIDERING that, in accordance with Article 40 of the Statute of the European Central Bank and Article 21 of the Statute of the European Monetary Inst.i.tute, the European Central Bank and the European Monetary Inst.i.tute shall enjoy in the territories of the Member States such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the performance of their tasks, HAVE AGREED upon the following provisions, which shall be annexed to the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community: SOLE ARTICLE The Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities, annexed to the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng a Single Council and a Single Commission of the European Communities, shall be supplemented by the following provisions: "Article 23 This Protocol shall also apply to the European Central Bank, to the members of its organs and to its staff, without prejudice to the provisions of the Protocol on the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and the European Central Bank.

The European Central Bank shall, in addition, be exempt from any form of taxation or imposition of a like nature on the occasion of any increase in its capital and from the various formalities which may be connected therewith in the State where the bank has its seat. The activities of the Bank and of its organs carried on in accordance with the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank shall not be subject to any turnover tax.

The above provisions shall also apply to the European Monetary Inst.i.tute. Its dissolution or liquidation shall not give rise to any imposition."

PROTOCOL ON DENMARK THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, DESIRING to settle certain particular problems relating to Denmark, HAVE AGREED UPON the following provisions, which shall be annexed to the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community: The provisions of Article 14 of the Protocol on the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank shall not affect the right of the National Bank of Denmark to carry out its existing tasks concerning those parts of the Kingdom of Denmark which are not part of the Community.

PROTOCOL ON PORTUGAL THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, DESIRING to settle certain particular problems relating to Portugal, HAVE AGREED upon the following provisions, which shall be annexed to the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community: 1. Portugal is hereby authorized to maintain the facility afforded to the Autonomous Regions of Azores and Madeira to benefit from an interest-free credit facility with the Banco de Portugal under the terms established by existing Portuguese law.

2. Portugal commits itself to pursue its best endeavors in order to put an end to the above mentioned facility as soon as possible.

PROTOCOL ON THE TRANSITION TO THE THIRD STAGE OF ECONOMIC AND MONETARY UNION THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, Declare the irreversible character of the Community's movement to the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union by signing the new Treaty provisions on Economic and Monetary Union.

Therefore all Member States shall, whether they fulfil the necessary conditions for the adoption of a single currency or not, respect the will for the Community to enter swiftly into the third stage, and therefore no Member State shall prevent the entering into the third stage.

If by the end of 1997 the date of the beginning of the third stage has not been set, the Member States concerned, the Community inst.i.tutions and other bodies involved shall expedite all preparatory work during 1998, in order to enable the Community to enter the third stage irrevocably on 1 January 1999 and to enable the ECB and ESCB to start their full functioning from this date.

This Protocol shall be annexed to the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community.

PROTOCOL ON CERTAIN PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, RECOGNIZING that the United Kingdom shall not be obliged or committed to move to the third stage of economic and monetary union without a separate decision to do so by its government and Parliament, NOTING the practice of the government of the United Kingdom to fund its borrowing requirement by the sale of debt to the private sector.

HAVE AGREED the following provisions, which shall be annexed to the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community: 1. The United Kingdom shall notify the Council whether it intends to move to the third stage before the Council makes its a.s.sessment under Article 109j(2) of this Treaty; Unless the United Kingdom notifies the Council that it intends to move to the third stage, it shall be under no obligation to do so.

If no date is set for the beginning of the third stage under Article 109j(3) of this Treaty, the United Kingdom may notify its intention to move to the third stage before 1 January 1998.

2. Paragraphs 3 to 9 shall have effect if the United Kingdom notifies the Council that it does not intend to move to the third stage.

3.The United Kingdom shall not be included among the majority of Member States which fulfil the necessary conditions referred to in the second indent of Article 109j(2) and the first indent of Article 109j(3) of this Treaty.

4. The United Kingdom shall retain its powers in the field of monetary policy according to national law.

5. Articles 3a(2), 104c(1), (9) and (11), 105(1) to (5), 105a, 107, 108, 108a, 109, 109a(1) and (2)(b) and 109l(4) and (5) of this Treaty shall not apply to the United Kingdom. In these provisions references to the Community or the Member States shall not include the United Kingdom and references to national central banks shall not include the Bank of England.

6. Articles 109e(4) and 109h and i of this Treaty shall continue to apply to the United Kingdom. Articles 109c(4) and 109m shall apply to the united Kingdom as if it had a derogation.

7. The voting rights of the United Kingdom shall be suspended in respect of acts of the Council referred to in Articles listed in paragraph 5. For this purpose the weighted votes of the United Kingdom shall be excluded form any calculation of a qualified majority under Article 109k(5) of this Treaty.

The United Kingdom shall also have no right to partic.i.p.ate in the appointment of the President, the Vice-President and the other members of the Executive Board of the ECB under Articles 109a(2)(b) and 109l(1) of this Treaty.

8. Articles 3, 4, 6, 7, 9.2, 10.1, 10.3, 11.2, 12.1, 14, 16, 18 to 20, 22, 23, 26, 27, 30 to 34, 50 and 52 of the Protocol on the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank ("the Statute") shall not apply to the United Kingdom.

In those Articles, references to the Community or the Member States shall not include the United Kingdom and references to national central banks or shareholders shall not include the Bank of England.

References in Articles 10.3 and 30.2. of the Statute to "subscribed capital of the ECB" shall not include capital subscribed by the Bank of England.

9. Article 109(3) of this Treaty and Articles 44 to 48 of the Statute shall have effect, whether or not there is any Member State with a derogation, subject to the following amendments: (a) References in Article 44 ot the tasks of the ECB and the EMI shall include those tasks that still need to be performed in the third stage owing to any decision of the United kingdom not to move to that Stage.

(b) In addition to the tasks referred to in Article 47 the ECB shall also give advice in relation to and contribute to the preparation of any decision of the Council with regard to the United Kingdom taken in accordance with paragraphs 10(a) and 10(c).

(c) The Bank of England shall pay up its subscription to the capital of the ECB as a contribution of its operational costs on the same basis as national central banks of Member States with a derogation.

10. If the United Kingdom does not move to the third stage, it may change its notification at any time after the beginning of that stage. In that event: (a) The United Kingdom shall have the right to move to the third stage provided only that it satisfies the necessary conditions. The Council, acting at the request of the United Kingdom and under the conditions and in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 109k(2) of this Treaty, shall decide whether it fulfills the necessary conditions.

(b) The Bank of England shall pay up its subscribed capital, transfer to the ECB foreign reserve a.s.sets and contribute to its reserves on the same basis as the national central bank of a Member State whose derogation has been abrogated.

(c) The Council, acting under the conditions and in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 109(5) of this Treaty, shall take all other necessary decisions to enable the United Kingdom to move to the third stage.

If the United Kingdom moves to the third stage pursuant to the provisions of this protocol, paragraphs 3 to 9 shall cease to have effect.

11. Notwithstanding Articles 104 and 109e(3) of this Treaty and Article 21.1. of the Statute, the government of the United Kingdom may maintain its ways and means facility with the Bank of England if and so long as the United Kingdom does not move to the third stage.

PROTOCOL ON CERTAIN PROVISIONS RELATING TO DENMARK THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, DESIRING to settle, in accordance with the general objectives of the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community, certain particular problems existing at the present time, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT that the Danish Const.i.tution contains provisions which may imply a referendum in Denmark prior to Danish partic.i.p.ation in the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union, HAVE AGREED on the following provisions, which shall be annexed to the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community: 1. The Danish Government shall notify the Council of its position concerning partic.i.p.ation in the third stage before the Council makes its a.s.sessment under Article 109j(2) of this Treaty.

2. In the event of a notification that Denmark will not partic.i.p.ate in the third stage, Denmark shall have an exemption. The effect of the exemption shall be that all Articles and provisions of this Treaty and the Statute of the ESCB referring to a derogation shall be applicable to Denmark.

3. In such case, Denmark shall not be included among the majority of Member States which fulfil the necessary conditions referred to in the second indent of Article 109j(2) and the first indent of Article 109j(3) of this Treaty.

4. As for the abrogation of the exemption, the procedure referred to in Article 109k(2) shall only be initiated at the request of Denmark.

5. In the event of abrogation of the exemption status, the provisions of this Protocol shall cease to apply.

PROTOCOL ON FRANCE THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, DESIRING to take into account a particular point relating to France, HAVE AGREED upon the following provisions, which shall be annexed to the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community.

France will keep the privilege of monetary emission in its overseas territories under the terms established by its national laws, and will be solely ent.i.tled to determine the parity of the CFP franc.

PROTOCOL ON SOCIAL POLICY THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, NOTING that eleven Member States, that is to say the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Denmark and Federal Republic of Germany, the h.e.l.lenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, Ireland, the Italian Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Portuguese Republic, wish to continue along the path laid down in the 1989 Social Charter; that they have adopted among themselves an Agreement to this end; that this Agreement is annexed to this Protocol; that this Protocol and the said Agreement are without prejudice to the provisions of this Treaty, particularly those relating to social policy which const.i.tute an integral part of the "acquis communautaire": 1. Agree to authorize those eleven Member States to have recourse to the inst.i.tutions, procedures and mechanisms of the Treaty for the purposes of taking among themselves and applying as far as they are concerned the acts and decisions required for giving effect to the abovementioned Agreement.

2. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland shall not take part in the deliberations and the adoption by the Council of Commission proposals made on the basis of the Protocol and the above mentioned Agreement.

By way of derogation from Article 148(2) of the Treaty, acts of the Council which are made pursuant to this Protocol and which must be adopted by a qualified majority shall be deemed to be so adopted if they have received at least forty-four votes in favour. The unanimity of the members of the Council, with the exception of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, shall be necessary for acts of the Council which must be adopted unanimously and for those amending the Commission proposal.

Acts adopted by the Council and any financial consequences other than administrative costs entailed for the inst.i.tutions shall not be applicable to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

3. This Protocol shall be annexed to the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community.

AGREEMENT ON SOCIAL POLICY CONCLUDED BETWEEN THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND.

The undersigned eleven HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, that is to say, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the h.e.l.lenic Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Portuguese Republic (hereinafter referred to the "the Member States"), WIs.h.i.+NG TO implement to the 1989 Social Charter on the basis of the "acquis communautaire", CONSIDERING the Protocol on social policy, HAVE AGREED as follows: ARTICLE 1 The Community and the Member States shall have as their objectives the promotion of employment, improved living and working conditions, proper social protection, dialogue between management and labour, the development of human resources with a view to lasting high employment and the combating of exclusion. To this end the Community and Member States shall implement measures which take account of the diverse forms of national practices, in particular in the field of contractual relations, and the need to maintain the compet.i.tiveness of the Community economy.

ARTICLE 2 1. With a view to achieving the objectives of Article 1, the Community shall support and complement the activities of the Member States in the following fields: - improvement in particular of the working environment to protect workers' health and safety; - working conditions; - the information and consultation of workers; - equality between men and women with regard to labour market opportunities and treatment at work; - the integration of persons excluded from the labour market, without prejudice to Article 127 of the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community (hereinafter referred to as "the Treaty").

2. To this end, the Council may adopt, by means of directives, minimum requirements for gradual implementation, having regard to the conditions and technical rules obtaining in each of the Member States. Such directives shall avoid imposing administrative, financial and legal constraints in a way which would hold back the creation and development of small and medium-sized undertakings.

The Council shall act in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 189c of the Treaty after consulting the Economic and Social Committee.

3. However, the Council shall act unanimously on a proposal from the Commission, after consulting the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee, in following areas: - social security and social protection of workers; - protection of workers where their employment contract is terminated; - representation and collective defence of the interests of worker and employers, including co-determination, subject to paragraph 6; - conditions of employment for third-country nationals legally residing in Community territory; - financial contributions for promotion of employment and job-creation, without prejudice to the provisions relating to the Social Fund.

4. A Member State may entrust management and labour, at their joint request, with the implementation of directives adopted pursuant to paragraphs 2 and 3.

In this case, it shall ensure that, no later than the date on which a directive must be transposed in accordance with Article 189, management and labour have introduced the necessary measures by agreement, the Member State concerned being required to take any necessary measure enabling it at any time to be in a position to guarantee the results imposed by that directive.

5. The provisions adopted pursuant to this Article shall not prevent any Member State from maintaining or introducing more stringent protective measures compatible with the Treaty.

6. The provisions of this Article shall not apply to pay, the right of a.s.sociation, the right to strike or the right to impose lock-outs.

ARTICLE 3 1. The Commission shall have the task of promoting the consultation of management and labour at Community level and shall take any relevant measure to facilitate their dialogue by ensuring balanced support for the parties.

2. To this end, before submitting proposals in the social policy field, the Commission shall consult management and labour on the possible direction of Community action.

3. If, after such consultation, the Commission considers Community action advisable, it shall consult management and labour on the content of the envisaged proposal. Management and labour shall forward to the Commission an opinion or, where appropriate, a recommendation.

4. On the occasion of such consultation, management and labour may inform the Commission of their wish to initiate the process provided for in Article 4. The duration of the procedure shall not exceed nine months, unless the management and labour concerned and the Commission decide jointly to extend it.

ARTICLE 4 1. Should management and labour so desire, the dialogue between them at Community level may lead to contractual relations, including agreements.

2. Agreements concluded at Community level shall be implemented either in accordance with the procedures and practices specific to management and labour and the Member States or, in matters covered by Article 2, at the joint request of the signatory parties, by a Council decision on a proposal from the Commission.

The Council shall act by qualified majority, except where the agreement in question contains one or more provisions relating to one of the areas referred to in Article 2(3), in which case it shall act unanimously.

ARTICLE 5 With a view to achieving the objectives of Article 1 and without prejudice to the other provisions of the Treaty, the Commission shall encourage co-operation between the Member States and facilitate the co-ordination of their action in all social policy fields under this Agreement.

ARTICLE 6 1. Each Member State shall ensure that the principle of equal pay for male and female workers for equal work is applied.

2. For the purpose of this Article, "pay" means the ordinary basic or minimum wage or salary and any other consideration, whether in cash or in kind, which the worker receives directly or indirectly, in respect of his employment, from his employer.

Equal pay without discrimination based on s.e.x means: (a) that pay for the same work at piece rates shall be calculated on the basis of the same unit of measurement.

(b) that pay for work at time rates shall be the same for the same job.

3. This Article shall not prevent any Member State from maintaining or adopting measures providing for specific advantages in order to make it easier for women to pursue a vocational activity or to prevent or compensate for disadvantages in their professional careers.

ARTICLE 7 The Commission shall draw up a report each year on progress in achieving the objective of Article 1, including the demographic situation in the Community. It shall forward the report to the European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee.

The European Parliament may invite the Commission to draw up reports on particular problems concerning the social situation.

DECLARATIONS 1. Declaration on Article 2(2) The eleven High Contracting Parties note that in the discussions on Article 2(2) of the Agreement it was agreed that the Community does not intend, in laying down minimum requirements for the protection of the safety and health of employees, to discriminate in a manner unjustified by the circ.u.mstances against employees in small and medium-sized undertakings.

2. Declaration on Article 4(2) The eleven High Contracting Parties declare that the first of the arrangements for application of the agreements between management and labour at Community level - referred to in Article 4(2) - will consist in developing, by collective bargaining according to the rules of each Member State, the content of the agreements, and that consequently this arrangement implies no obligation on the Member States to apply the agreements directly or to work out rules for their transposition, or any obligation to amend national legislation in force to facilitate their implementation.

PROTOCOL ON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COHESION THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, RECALLING that the Union has set itself the objective of promoting economic and social progress, inter alia, through the strengthening of economic and social cohesion; RECALLING that Article 2 of the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community includes the task of promoting economic and social cohesion and solidarity between Member States and that the strengthening of economic and social cohesion figures among the activities of the Community listed in Article 3; RECALLING that the provisions of Part Three, t.i.tle XIV, on economic and social cohesion as a whole provide the legal basis for consolidating and further developing the Community's action in the field of economic and social cohesion, including the creation of a new fund; RECALLING that the provisions of Part Three, t.i.tle XII on trans- European networks and t.i.tle XVI on environment envisage a Cohesion Fund to be set up before 31 December 1993; STATING their belief that progress towards Economic and Monetary Union will contribute to the economic growth of all Member States; NOTING that the Community's Structural Funds are being doubled in real terms between 1987 and 1993, implying large transfers, especially as a proportion of GDP of the less prosperous Member States; NOTING that the European Investment Bank is lending large and increasing amounts for the benefit of the poorer regions; NOTING the desire for greater flexibility in the arrangements for allocation from the Structural Funds; NOTING the desire for modulation of the levels of Community partic.i.p.ation in programmes and projects in certain countries; NOTING the proposal to take greater account of the relative prosperity of Member States in the system of own resources, REAFFIRM that the promotion of economic and social cohesion is vital to the full development and enduring success of the Community, and underline the importance of the inclusion of economic and social cohesion in Articles 2 and 3 of this Treaty; REAFFIRM their conviction that the Structural Funds should continue to play a considerable part in the achievement of Community objectives in the field of cohesion; REAFFIRM their conviction that the European Investment Bank should continue to devote the majority of its resources to the promotion of economic and social cohesion, and declare their willingness to review the capital needs of the European Investment Bank as soon as this is necessary for that purpose; REAFFIRM the need for a thorough evaluation of the operation and effectiveness of the Structural Funds in 1992, and the need to review, on that occasion, the appropriate size of these Funds in the light of the tasks of the Community in the area of economic and social cohesion; AGREE that the Cohesion Fund to be set up before 31 December 1993 will provide Community financial contributions to projects in the fields of environment and trans-European networks in Member States with a per capita GNP of less than 90% of the Community average which have a programme leading to the fulfilment of the conditions of economic convergence as set out in Article 104c; DECLARE their intention of allowing a greater margin of flexibility in allocating financing from the Structural Funds to specific needs not covered under the present Structural Funds regulations; DECLARE their willingness to modulate the levels of Community partic.i.p.ation in the context of programmes and projects of the Structural Funds, with a view to avoiding excessive increases in budgetary expenditure in the less prosperous Member States; RECOGNIZE the need to monitor regularly the progress made towards achieving economic and social cohesion and state their willingness to study all necessary measures in this respect; DECLARE their intention of taking greater account of the contributive capacity of individual Member States in the system of own resources, and of examining means of correcting, for the less prosperous Member States, regressive elements existing in the present own resources system; AGREE to annex this Protocol to the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community.

PROTOCOL ON THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES HAVE AGREED upon the following provision, which shall be annexed to this Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community: The Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions shall have a common organizational structure.

PROTOCOL ANNEXED TO THE TREATY ON EUROPEAN UNION AND TO THE TREATIES ESTABLIs.h.i.+NG THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, HAVE AGREED upon the following provision, which shall be annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaties establis.h.i.+ng the European Communities: Nothing in the Treaty on European Union, or in the Treaties establis.h.i.+ng the European Communities, or in the Treaties or Acts modifying or supplementing those Treaties, shall affect the application in Ireland of Article 40.3.3 of the Const.i.tution of Ireland.

FINAL ACT 1. The Conferences of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States convened in Rome on 15 December 1990 to adopt by common accord the amendments to be made to the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Economic Community with a view to the achievement of political union and with a view to the final stages of economic and monetary union, and those convened in Brussels on 3 February 1992 with a view to amending the Treaties establis.h.i.+ng respectively the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community as a result of the amendments envisaged for the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Economic Community have adopted the following texts: I the Treaty on European Union II Protocols 1. Protocol on the acquisition of property in Denmark 2. Protocol concerning Article 119 of the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community 3. Protocol on the Statute of the European System of central banks and of the European Central Bank 4. Protocol on the Statute of the European Monetary Inst.i.tute 5. Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure 6. Protocol on the convergence criteria referred to in Article 109j of the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community 7. Protocol amending the Protocol on the privileges and immunities of the European Communities 8. Protocol on Denmark 9. Protocol on Portugal 10. Protocol on the transition to the third stage of economic and monetary union 11. Protocol on certain provisions relating to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 12. Protocol on certain provisions relating to Denmark.

13. Protocol on France 14. Protocol on social policy, to which is annexed an agreement concluded between the Member States of the European Community with the exception of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to which two declarations are attached 15. Protocol on economic and social cohesion 16. Protocol on the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions 17. Protocol annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaties establis.h.i.+ng the European Communities The Conferences agreed that the Protocols referred to in 1 to 16 above will be annexed to the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community and that the Protocol referred to in 17 above will be annexed to the Treaty of European Union and to the Treaties establis.h.i.+ng the European Communities.

2. At the time of signature of these texts, the Conferences adopted the declarations listed below and annexed to this Final Act: III Declarations 1. Declaration on civil protection, energy and tourism 2. Declaration on nationality of a Member State 3. Declaration on Part Three, t.i.tles III and VI, of the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community 4. Declaration on Part Three, t.i.tle VI, of the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community 5. Declaration on monetary co-operation with non-Community countries 6. Declaration on monetary relations with the Republic of San Marino, the Vatican City and the Princ.i.p.ality of Monaco 7. Declaration on Article 73d of the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community 8. Declaration on Article 109 of the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Economic Community 9. Declaration on Part Three, t.i.tle XVI, of the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community 10. Declaration on Articles 109, 130r and 130y of the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community 11. Declaration on the Directive of 24 November 1988 (Emissions) 12. Declaration of the European Development Fund 13. Declaration on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union 14. Declaration on the Conference of the Parliaments 15. Declaration on the number of members of the Commission and of the European Parliament 16. Declaration on the hierarchy of Community Acts 17. Declaration on the right of access to information 18. Declaration on estimated costs under Commission proposals 19. Declaration on the implementation of Community law 20. Declaration on a.s.sessment of the environmental impact of Community measures 21. Declaration on the Court Auditors 22. Declaration of the Economic and Social Committee 23. Declaration on co-operation with charitable a.s.sociations 24. Declaration on the protection of animals 25. Declaration on the representation of the interests of the overseas countries and territories referred to in Article 227(3) and (5)(a) and (b) of the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community 26. Declaration on the outermost regions of the Community 27. Declaration on voting in the field of the common foreign and security policy 28 Declaration on practical arrangements in the field of the common foreign and security policy.

29. Declaration on the use of languages in the field of the common foreign and security policy 30. Declaration on Western European Union 31. Declaration on asylum 32. Declaration on police co-operation 33. Declaration on disputes between the ECB and the EMI and their servants Done at Maastricht this seventh day of February in the year on thousand nine hundred and ninety-two DECLARATION ON CIVIL PROTECTION, ENERGY AND TOURISM The Conference declares that the question of introducing into the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community t.i.tles relating to the spheres referred to in Article 3(t) of that Treaty will be examined, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article N(2) of the Treaty on European Union, on the basis of a report which the Commission will submit to the Council by 1996 at the latest.

The Commission declares that Community action in those spheres will be pursued on the basis of the present provisions of the Treaties establis.h.i.+ng the European Communities.

DECLARATION ON NATIONALITY OF A MEMBER STATE The Conference declares that, wherever in the Treaty establis.h.i.+ng the European Community reference is made to nationals of the Member States, the question whether an individual possesses the nationality of a Member State shall be settled solely by reference to the national law of the Member State concerned. Member States may declare, for information, who are to be considered their nationals for Community purposes by way of declaration lodged with the Presidency and may amend any such declarations when necessary.