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Series:   Elements in Economics of European Integration

The Road to Monetary Union

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2021

Richard Pomfret
Richard Pomfret
Affiliation:
University of Adelaide

Summary

The Road to Monetary Union analyses in non-technical language the process leading to adoption of a common currency for the European Union. The monetary union process involved different issues at different times and the contemporary global background mattered. The Element explains why monetary union was attempted and failed in the 1970s, and why the process was restarted in 1979, accelerated after 1992 and completed for a core group of EU members in 1999. It analyzes connections between eurozone membership and Greece's sovereign debt crisis. It concludes with analysis of how the eurozone works today and with discussion of its prospects for the 2020s. The approach is primarily economic, while acknowledging the role of politics (timing) and history (path dependence). A theme is to challenge simplistic ideas (e.g. that the euro has failed) with fuller analysis of competing pressures to shape the nature of monetary union.
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Keywords

monetary unionEurozoneEuropean Union
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in Economics of European Integration
Online ISBN: 9781108962315
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 11 March 2021

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