Western European leaders opened a landmark summit Monday seeking to resolve remaining disputes over monetary union and tackle the thornier issues of political union and a common foreign policy.
Britain is hesitant, but the rest of the 12-nation community is ready to take a major step toward establishing a currency that could be used by decade's end from the North Sea to the Mediterranean.The two-day summit in this southern Dutch town is the most significant since the EC took a major step toward closer union in 1986 by removing barriers to trade and travel with an eye toward creating a single market by 1993.
The most influential advocates of a strong federation are Germany, France and Italy, the community's biggest members besides Britain. They are bent on turning the community of 338 million people into an economic and political power rivaling the United States and Japan.
They are backed by the Netherlands, which holds the Community's rotating presidency, Belgium, Greece, Spain and Luxembourg.
Only Ireland, Denmark and Portugal share some of the reservations of Britain, the most hesitant EC country, about diminishing national sovereignty.
The most far-reaching change likely to be agreed at Maastricht is economic and monetary union, providing for the establishment of a joint central bank and a single currency by 1999.
Britain is expected to exempt itself from the currency agreement. In a year of negotiations leading up to the summit, it was agreed that Britain would not be required to accept the currency unless its parliament approved.
The latest crisis in Moscow, sparked when Russia, the Ukraine and Byelorussia decided to form a free market commonwealth, loomed over the opening hours of the summit with British Prime Minister John Major saying there was a possibility that the Soviet Union could split up violently.
The leaders also were to meet Monday with European Parliament President Enrique Baron Crespo, who is seeking vastly expanded powers for the now largely advisory body.
In essense, the 518-seat parliament wants to share power with the EC Council of Ministers, which is made up of member governments and has the final say on community policy and law.
Top EC officials have predicted the summit will reach a compromise to expand the parliament's powers without turning it into a full-fledged legislature.