The bluffer's briefing: Maastricht
Meaning of Maastricht: Ford over the river Maas (or Meuse).
Early history: Fortress town besieged by Spain in 1576 and 1579; by the Prince of Orange in 1632; by France in 1673, 1748 and 1794; and by Belgium in 1830. It capitulated to all except the Belgians.
Popular local song: 'Mestreech is eine grote kaffee' (Maastricht is one big pub).
Number of pubs in Maastricht: More than the days of the year.
Population: 115,000.
Other claims to fame: It was first Dutch town liberated in 1944; its sixth-century cathedral is the Netherlands' oldest church.
Proper name of Maastricht treaty: Treaty on European Union.
Articles not applying to the UK: 3a(2), 104c(1), (9) and (11), 105(1) to (5), 105a, 107, 108, 108a, 109, 109a(1) and (2)(b), 109l(4) and (5).
What does Article 104c(1) say?: Member states shall avoid excessive government deficits.
Percentage of Danes who voted against ratification: 50.7.
Why the area of the EC was halved in 1985: Greenland left.
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