EC Ministers Sign Pact on Political, Monetary Union

MAASTRICHT, Netherlands —  European Community ministers signed a treaty Friday on political and monetary union, cementing the EC’s plans to create a super bloc with a single market, one currency and a unified voice for more than 300 million people.

The Treaty on European Union was signed by foreign and finance ministers of the EC’s 12 member states at a ceremony in this southern Dutch market town.

The ministers were flanked by European Commission President Jacques Delors, European Parliament President Egon Klepsch and the prime ministers of Portugal, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

“This is a historic moment for the 300 million-plus inhabitants of the European Community, a moment marked by satisfaction and hope,” said Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers, who brokered the union agreement during a grueling summit here in December.

The 189-page treaty plus 33 declarations and 17 protocols set out in nine official languages the EC’s plans for achieving a single currency in some member states by 1999 at the latest.

It would hand new powers to the European Parliament, strengthen foreign and security ties within the bloc and give the EC a common defense role for the first time.

The most hesitant about European unity, Britain refused to commit itself to scrapping its pound in favor of a single currency, the ecu. It insisted on a separate protocol allowing its Parliament to decide later whether to adopt the ecu.

The pact must also be ratified by the national parliaments of all member states before the end of the year.