The States Parties present to the present Treaty

RESOLVED to mark a new stage in the process of European integration,

DRAWING INSPIRATION from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe, from which
have developed the universal values of the inviolable and inalienable rights of the human person,
freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law,

RECALLING the historic importance of the ending of the division of the European continent and the
need to create firm bases for the construction of the future Europe,

CONFIRMING their attachment to the principles of liberty, democracy and respect for human rights
and fundamental freedoms and of the rule of law,

CONFIRMING their attachment to fundamental social rights,

DESIRING to deepen the solidarity between their peoples while respecting their history, their culture
and their traditions,

DESIRING to enhance further the democratic and efficient functioning of the institutions so as to
enable them better to carry out, within a single institutional framework, the tasks entrusted to them,

RESOLVED to achieve the strengthening and the convergence of their economies and to establish an
economic union including,

DETERMINED to promote economic and social progress for their peoples, taking into account the
principle of sustainable development and within the context of the accomplishment of the internal
market and of reinforced cohesion and environmental protection, and to implement policies ensuring that advances in economic integration are accompanied by parallel progress in other fields,

RESOLVED to establish a citizenship common to nationals of their countries,

RESOLVED to implement a common foreign and security policy including the progressive framing of a
common defence policy, which might lead to a common defence. thereby reinforcing the European identity and its independence in order to promote peace, security and progress in Europe and in the world,

RESOLVED to facilitate the free movement of persons, while ensuring the safety and security of their
peoples, by establishing an area of freedom, security and justice,

RESOLVED to continue the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in
which decisions are taken as closely as possible to the citizen in accordance with the principle of
subsidiarity,

IN VIEW of further steps to be taken in order to advance European integration,

HAVE DECIDED to establish a European Union and to this end have designated as their Plenipotentiaries: