The Treaty on European Union (TEU) was signed on Maastricht (Netherlands) on February 7, 1992.

Subsequently was amended by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997, the Treaty of Nice in 2002 and the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007.

The consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union  was published in the EU Official Journal number C 115 of 9 May 2008.

The entry into force of the Treaty on European Union

Treaty on European Union as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force on 1 December 2009, with the entry into force of the Treaty modifier.

The structure of the Treaty

The treaty is structured into six titles, as follows:
Title I – Common provisiona (articles 1-8)
Title II – Provisions on democratic principles (articles 9-12)
Title III – Provisions on the institutions (articles 13-19)
Title IV – Provisions on enhanced cooperation (article 20)
Title V – General provisions on the Union’s external action and specific provisions on the common foreign and security policy (articles 21-46)
Title VI – Final provisions (articles 47-55)
According to article 1 of the TEU,

By this Treaty , the High Contracting Parties establish among themselves a European Union on which the Member States confer competences to attain objectives they have in common.

This Treaty marks a new stage in the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen.

The Union is founded on the Treaty on European Union and on the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Those two Treaties shall have the same legal value. The Union shall replace and succeed the European Community.