The shaping of Europe as we know it was inaugurated 30 years ago in Maastricht. The Maastricht Treaty, or Treaty of the European Union (TEU), although inheriting from structures of the former European Communities (EC) as we shall see in a bit, essentially set out the transition from European undertakings to a fully-fledged European Union. It paved the path for a true union as well as the introduction of the euro, amongst other remarkable changes.