Treaty on European Union

Audience

The Treaty on European Union is a legal document, so from its inception, its primary audience has consisted of government officials, government agencies, and their attorneys and advisers in each of the member states. Thus, for example, if the treasury of a member state wishes to propose a monetary or fiscal policy, it is obligated to consult the treaty to ensure that the proposal is consistent with the terms of the treaty—and only by adhering to the terms of the treaty can that nation realize the financial benefits the treaty offers. Another audience is the business and corporate community within the EU. A business proposing an expansion that would, for example, have a potential impact on the environment would have to ensure, in consultation with the government and with its lawyers, that the expansion is allowable under the terms of the treaty and that all environmental concerns are met. In a larger sense, the treaty's audience was and is all of Europe and indeed the world. The treaty announced to the peoples of Europe and the world that EU nations were to be regarded no longer as a fragmented collection of nations, each pursuing its separate interests, but instead now as a larger, supranational entity with common goals and common policies. In relation to the global community, then, the treaty makes clear that the EU's purpose is, among other goals, “to assert its identity on the international scene, in particular through the implementation of a common foreign and security policy including the progressive framing of a common defence policy, which might lead to a common defence.”