Maastricht

It is difficult to see how the Maastricht Treaty for establishing a single European currency by century's end can take effect on its timetable. Where confusion reigned in European monetary affairs, a message of clarity was needed from the French electorate. In the referendum on ratification, Sunday, the French approved by such an eyelash majority that the mandate was more confusion. It was what one French politician called an amber light for monetary union. Or more likely flashing red: full stop, then proceed with caution.

Edinburgh.--The long-awaited birth of a unified Europe failed to take place in 1992, and by the end of the year the leaders of the European Community were using forceps in a frenzied effort to try to save their once promising baby.In retrospect, it was obviously too much to expect 12 historically and culturally divergent nations that have spent much of their history plotting and fighting against each other to smoothly create a single currency and establish a common foreign and defense policy, as called for in the Maastricht Treaty on European unity.

Ireland, by ratifying the Maastricht Treaty in a thumping referendum, puts the plan for a single European currency by century's end back on track. Had the Irish rejected this, immediately after the Danish rejection, the whole movement toward a unified Europe -- a single economy based on the current European Community membership -- would have crumbled.As it is, the treaty calls for unanimity which the Danish rejection prevents. But this can now be seen as a surmountable hurdle, calling for a minor rewriting of the rules now, a second appeal to Danish voters later on. Had the only two referendums to be held in the ratification process gone against it, the notion would have been unstoppable that parliamentary acceptances elsewhere represented only the detachment of Europe's politicians and bureaucrats from their constituents.

Brussels. -- European Union isn't dead yet. All those epitaphs in the American press are greatly exaggerated.Sure, the European Monetary System exploded last month. Yugoslavia trumpets the European Community's inability to stop bloodshed on its doorstep. Public opinion in Germany resists giving up its beloved Deutsche mark for a common European ''ecu.'' And Paris and Bonn, the only partners who can make anything move in Europe, are at loggerheads over the interminable GATT trade negotiations.

On Saturday, March 4, 2006, at Anne Arundel Medical Center following a short illness. Born in Ashland, KY, she grew up in Louisville, KY. She was the daughter of Paul Jones and Jessie Owens Hughes. She is predeceased by her husband Everett Taliaferro Meredith and two brothers, Edward Hunter Hughes and Paul Jones Hughes, Jr. In Louisville she met and married her husband, a native Annapolitan where they settled in 1968. She is survived by her three daughters; Elizabeth Lee Meredith of Lexington, KY, Mary Granville (Michael)

PARIS -- When British citizen Dana McEvans decided to mov to France this year, she figured it would be little problem. She speaks excellent French and had a job tailor-made for the new Europe: studying pan-European marketing and advertising trends.Add to this the fact that a borderless Europe has been in place since Jan. 1 and that Europe was moving toward greater integration under the Maastricht treaty, and her confidence was understandable. A few formalities and she could start work."I was completely wrong," the 28-year-old marketing researcher said.

PARIS -- The French said "yes" to Europe yesterday, but very faintly.More than 70 percent of France's 38.3 million eligible voters turned out under leaden skies over much of the country and approved the Maastricht treaty on European political and monetary union by a fraction over 50 percent.The treaty is designed to take the European Community to a single currency by the end of 1999, to advance the idea of "European citizenship" and to encourage further synchronization of defense and foreign policies among the 12 members.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- Europe will look into its own future over the next few days and try to decide if the idea of real union is likely to work.To this end, the leaders of the 12 states of the European Community are assembling at the tidy little town of Maastricht, south of here."

If you can stay awake long enough after your Thanksgiving meal, sit down and play a game of Trivial Pursuit. You may be able to remember the answers better, and even if you can't, you might not feel that bad losing. New research suggests that the same chemical in turkey that has been blamed for making us want to curl up on the couch after Thanksgiving dinner - tryptophan - may also play a role in maintaining good mood and memory. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, not produced by the body, that is known for causing sleepiness.

PARIS -- As protesting farmers blocked roads leading to the French capital, a special joint session of the French Parliament yesterday overwhelmingly approved constitutional changes necessary to set up a critical national referendum that many believe will determine the fate of the movement for European political and economic union.Without the changes, France could not have participated in the unified Europe. The French national vote on ratification of the treaty for European political and economic union, signed by the leaders of the 12 European Community members in December in the Dutch city of Maastricht, has been proposed for this fall.