EMU Convergence and Fiscal Policy

Most academic social science literature either accepts that closer European Union (EU) integration is desirable, or more usually, given the political will of EU leaders that it is inevitable. Therefore economists, political scientists and sociologists frequently devote their research to the dynamics of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), the political institutions fostering ‘ever closer union’ and the social implications of these momentous changes. However, whilst such detailed analyses generate important policy proposals, they tend by their weight to smother the crucial strategic issue: is EMU beneficial or not, for the EU as a whole? The purpose of this chapter is to analyse this issue. More specifically, it seeks to evaluate the criteria which have been advanced by different authorities to assess whether or not membership of the single currency would prove beneficial. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.