The European Community is negotiating a new treaty to establish the constitutional foundations of an economic and monetary union in the course of the 1990s. This study provides the only comprehensive guide to the economic implications of economic and monetary union. The work of an economist inside the Commission of the European Community, it reflects the considerations influencing the design of the union. The study creates a unique bridge between the insights of modern economic analysis and the work of the policy makers preparing for economic and monetary union.

Europe is on the road to monetary union (EMU) even if there may be delays and diversions on the way. The focal point of EMU will be its single currency, valid throughout all participating countries, and replacing the national currencies. There will be considerable transitional pain and stress, most of all for member states with very high public debts. For the rest, the road ahead will not be smooth, but should be assisted by easier monetary policy in Germany since 1993. For some countries at least, the pain will be aggravated unnecessarily by design defects in the transitional rules for entry - which there is still time to remedy. The author - no admirer of a federal Europe - describes how EMU could actually work better in a confederal Europe with no federal chief executive and with a relatively weak Parliament. The independent Eurofed would be responsible for managing economic policy on an EC-wide basis, while national governments could use fiscal policies to mitigate local deviations. Weak regions and poor peripheral countries would require more flexible assistance from EC resources, however.

Recoge : 1. Introductory session. - 2. Past convergence within the European Union. - 3. Accesion countries : achievements in real convergence. - 4. Accesion countries : how to balance real and nominal convergence challenges for monetary and exchange rate policy. - 5. Does the financial sector contribute to real growth? - 6. Is there somebody left out in the cold? prospects of CEE countries other than current accesion countries. - 7. Policy challenges within the (enlarged) EU : how to foster economic convergence?

This book was first published in 1981. A collection of twenty-two papers, written between 1966 and 1976 on international monetary relations.

The aftermath of the US subprime mortgage crisis in 2008 saw its influence spread around the world, including Europe. The European crisis turned out to be longer, deeper and more resilient than anticipated. An unexpected consequence was the increasingly divergent economic and financial situation of two main groups of countries within the Eurozone, which includes the countries that adopt the euro as their common currency. The divergence was caused by a number of factors, fundamentally stemming from the dissimilar economic and financial situation of its member countries and from the incomplete institutional architecture and the monetary and fiscal policies in the Eurozone.One Currency, Two Europes: Towards a Dual Eurozone seeks to explore these factors which give rise to the Eurozone's asymmetric composition and the growing difficulties and ineffectiveness that policies meet. It presents evidence to show how the presently incomplete institutional architecture of the Eurozone is the main reason for the extreme detrimental effects of the international crisis and austerity policies, along with the asymmetric economic situation and the insufficient mutual trust demonstrated by the vulnerable as well as resilient countries.Other than presenting a complete overview and analysis of the events that unfolded in the Eurozone as a result of the financial crisis that first emerged in the US, this book also suggests possible solutions which could help to reunify the Eurozone, and make the common currency sustainable and beneficial for all member countries. One Currency, Two Europes will be useful for policymakers who want to learn from the Eurozone's experience with the financial crisis and the importance of complete institutional architectures and inter-country economic convergence. It will also serve as a reference to students and researchers who would like more in-depth analysis of the crisis and the Eurozone's fiscal, monetary and institutional past, present, and future.

A clear, analytical and balanced guide to the euro experiment and subsequent crisis that will appeal to a wide readership.

The contributions to this book examine the two main asymmetries of the Euro Area as they have intensified during the second decade of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU): the first between monetary union (more supranational governance) versus ‘economic’ union (less centralised governance); the second between those Euro Area member states of the so-called ‘core’ and those of the ‘periphery’. EMU stands as one of the European Union’s (EU) flagship integration achievements. Set up in 1999, with the large majority of EU member states at the time, EMU was described as ‘asymmetrical’ even prior to its start. From the outset, it involved asymmetrical integration in monetary and ‘economic’ union. Although a major element of the blueprint that paved the way for the final stage of EMU, the concept of ‘economic’ union was insufficiently developed. The second decade of the single currency gave rise to a second asymmetry, namely one between those Euro Area member states of the ‘core’ and those of the ‘periphery’. The ten contributions to this volume speak to one or both of these asymmetries, covering the major political, political economy and policy dimensions of EMU and the ongoing debates about necessary policy and institutional reforms to overcome these asymmetries and bolster Euro Area stability. The outbreak of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) Crisis in 2020 created unprecedented socio-economic challenges for Euro Area member states, heightening the perceived urgency of reform. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of European Integration.

This title provides a comprehensive overview of the development and design of the European Monetary Union, as well as an intriguing discussion of its prospects for future enlargement.

This book, edited by Paul R. Masson, Thomas Krueger, and Bart G. Turtelboom, contains the proceedings of the seminar held in Washington, D.C. on March 17-18, 1997, cosponsored by the IMF and Fondation Camille Gutt. Conference participants discussed implications of European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) on exchange and financial markets, and consequently on the activities of market participants and private and official institutions. The five main themes of the seminar were the characteristics of the euro and its potential role as an international currency; EMU and international policy coordination; EMU and the relationship between the IMF and its EMU members; lessons of European monetary integration for the international monetary system; and the transitioin to EMU.