一九九三年十一月一日，承續並深化「歐洲共同體」整合任務的馬斯垂克「歐洲聯盟條約」正式生效。馬斯垂克條約的重要意義，在於明白地揭示了歐洲政治整合大業有待開創。對極力倡導大一統的歐洲理想主義者，則更期盼未來能繼「歐洲聯盟」進而能實現「歐洲合眾國」之理想。 緣起上，戰爭的災禍激勵了歐洲的領道者籌謀歐洲統合，以實現和平、團結、平等、自由、繁榮的共同價值。 歐洲統合運動的發展，所遵循的務實原則是，按部就班地，從經濟整合逐漸地走向政治整合。歐洲統合的前進發展方向，不是向一個已預設好的政治型態發展，「可能最好的統合方式」仍在辯論中。由於，確切的歐洲政治體系仍在「實驗中」有待完成，因此也有很多政府學上的開創性。 本文致力於檢視，建基於主權理論的歐洲民族國家，如何謹慎地釋放主權，從經濟之合試圖走向政治統合的步驟，並透過馬斯垂克「歐洲聯盟條約」歸納歐洲統合之成果。希望從歐洲統合的發展脈絡，探研出歐洲是否會有個聯邦主義的未來。

The emergence, growth and expansion of the European Community has been one of the most significant developments of post-war international scence. Now encompassing 12 independent nations with a total population of some 340,000,000 people, the European Union exerts a major influence on the economies and politics, not only of the member states, but also of the world as a whole. European integration was conceived from the outset as a process of modular construction, concentrating initially on a limited field and intended to expand into full political union. For the suprantionalists, a “United States of Europe” is the final aim of the European construction. This paper intends to analyze the transfer of sovereign national power and the strategy opted for working, and to evaluate the aims and consequences of the Masstricht Treaty establishing the European Union.

歐洲合眾國;聯邦主義