The Marshall Plan was seen by Congress and others as a “new and far-reaching experiment in foreign relations.” 64 While analysts are in many ways unique to the needs of their time, over the years they have tried to draw various lessons that could potentially be applied to current or future foreign aid initiatives. These lessons represent what observers believe to be one of the main strengths of the plan:65 Cautious not to isolate the Soviet Union at this still developing stage of the Cold War, Marshall`s invitation does not explicitly exclude any European nation. Britain and France ensured that the Soviets were included in an early three-power discussion on the proposal. Yet the Soviet Union and, under pressure, its satellites refused to participate in a joint stimulus package, on the grounds that the need to expose national economic plans would violate national sovereignty and that the interest of the United States would only be to increase its exports. The Maastricht Treaty, officially known as the Treaty on European Union, is the international agreement responsible for the creation of the European Union (EU), which was signed in 1991 and entered into force in 1993. The European Union (EU) is a group of 28 countries that functions as a cohesive economic and political bloc. Nineteen of the countries use the euro as their official currency. The first requirement of the Marshall Plan was that European nations commit themselves to achieving these goals. On an individual basis, each nation then used its counterpart funds and support in U.S.
dollars to achieve these goals. They also took a close look at their economic systems with the analytical support of the two European countries under the ego and US representatives of the ECA. As part of this process, the European Court of Auditors and the OEEC have sought to identify and remove obstacles to growth, avoid unhealthy national investment plans and promote the introduction of appropriate monetary levels. Thanks to US aid, so many European countries have been able to implement the recommended and necessary reforms at a lower political cost to impose economic hardship on their public than would have been the case without aid. In this context, some argue that it was the help of the Marshall Plan that carried out the plan for modernization and reform of the French economy by economist Jean Monnet.34 Implementation. .
