Die Koordinierung der Konjunkturpolitik in der Europäischen Gemeinschaft

In 1992 the EC Member States signed the treaty on the establishment of a European Union. This envisages transition to a common currency in the Member States, with a high level of economic convergence and stability by 1999 at the latest. In the meantime, however, it has become clear that this path is beset by greater difficulties than the partners had expected. There is a history to these difficulties. Even before this, repeated attempts had been made in the European Community at closer coordination of national monetary, fiscal and exchange-rate policies, in order to push forward with European integration in these areas. However, just as repeatedly it was not found possible to implement them as planned. Efforts to achieve monetary union remained without noticeable success. The progress of European economic and monetary integration since 1958 is reviewed in this monograph, and current problems appear in a new light as a result of this work. The work is also a contribution to the current debate on monetary union in Europe.