European States And The Euro

With Economic and Monetary Union, the European Union has embarked on one of the biggest projects in its history. Previous literature has focused on how EMU came into being and on the policy issues that it raises. European States and the Euro seeks to move the discussion forwards by offering the first systematic evaluation of how it is affecting EU states, both members and non-members of the Euro-Zone. It is the first book to explicitly situate EMU in the growing literature on Europeanization. It examines the effects on public policies, political structures, discourses, and identities. The book seeks to identify the scope of EMU's effects, the direction that it imparts to political and policy changes, the mechanisms by which it produces its effects, and the role of domestic institutions, political leadership and specific forms of discourse in shaping responses. In addition, the book assesses how, and with what effects, EMU is affecting key policy sectors labour markets and wages, welfare states, and financial market governance. What conditions the degree of convergence discernible in these sectors? Finally, the book seeks to 'contextualize' EMU by assessing its effects both in comparison with other variables like globalization and in a historical perspective of the European Monetary System as a 'training ground'. The book combines sectoral and country case studies with a thematic treatment by recognized experts in their fields. It moves from globalization, through EU-level changes, to member states and finally to specific sectors. The main conclusions are that EMU is most important in affecting the timing, tempo and rhythm of domestic change that these changes are experienced pre-eminently at the level of policy; that it strengthens pressures for convergence; but that different domestic institutional arrangements and discourses lead to variations in policy processes and effects and in the way change is 'framed'. In particular, whilst EMU contains a neo-liberalizing tendency exhibited most clearly in financial market effects, it is not to be characterized as a neo-liberal project by means of which the EU is becoming an economic and social space simply converging around Anglo-American market capitalism.

It is rare for countries to give up their currencies and thus their ability to influence such critical aspects of their economies as interest and exchange rates. Yet ten years ago a number of European countries did exactly that when they adopted the euro. Despite some dissent, there were a number of arguments in favor of this policy change: it would facilitate exchange of goods, money, and people by decreasing costs; it would increase trade; and it would enhance efficiency and competitiveness at the international level. A decade is an ideal time frame over which to evaluate the success of the euro and whether it has lived up to expectations. To that aim, Europe and the Euro looks at a number of important issues, including the effects of the euro on reform of goods and labor markets; its influence on business cycles and trade among members; and whether the single currency has induced convergence or divergence in the economic performance of member countries. While adoption of the euro may not have met the expectations of its most optimistic proponents, the benefits have been many, and there is reason to believe that the euro is robust enough to survive recent economic shocks. This volume is an essential reference on the first ten years of the euro and the workings of a monetary union.

This key book assesses the international role of the euro, discusses its impact on global financial markets, shifting global exchange rate relationships and their implications. With input from various disciplines, it foments discussions intended to facilitate an exchange of ideas among academics, practitioners and the local business community.

Essay from the year 2006 in the subject Economics - International Economic Relations, grade: 1,8, Edinburgh Napier University (Napier University Business School), course: International Trade Finance, language: English, abstract: 1. Introduction The following report shows the financial impact the EU ,and the EMS had on growth and development from a macroeconomic and microeconomic point of view. The report is divided into three main parts. The first part gives an overview of the development and emphasises the key elements of European integration. The second part is a closer look at the impact and influence of the Euro and the third part refers to the development of the European trade growth. 2. The long way towards European integration.1 2 3 Focus is in this part is on the European Union. Paris, Rome, Haque, Maastricht, Amsterdam,Madrid and Nizza. The names of European cities that became famous as milestones of European development is long. Although the integration process recently faced a setback in the ratification of the European constitution, the supranational-project “European Union” is a success story. Most obvious through the fact that so many countries were and still are keen to join the Union and become a Member State. The EU enlargement on May 2004 were ten Eastern European countries joined the EU is a very good example. However, the enlargement from the so called EU 15 to EU 25 implies also the turn away from the old idea of the “United Nations of Europe”. The idea first mentioned by Winston Churchill after the second World War in 1946 was in mind of many pro-european political characters from French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman to former German Chancelor Helmut Kohl.

The introduction of the euro was an important event for the world economy and the international political system. For the first time in history, a substantial group of European countries-eleven of the fifteen members of the European Union including three members of the G-7-have voluntarily agreed to replace their national currencies with a single currency. The euro area has already become established as the second largest currency area in the world and will therefore become a major player in the international monetary system. The creation of the euro poses a number of interesting questions. Will the euro be a strong or a weak currency? Will the euro challenge the leading position hitherto held by the United States dollar and would sharing of the burdens and advantages of reserve currency status improve or worsen the stability of the international monetary system? How will the euro affect US relations with Europe? Does the formation of the euro intensify European integration in other fields? Is a bi-polar international monetary system viable? These and other issues motivated the Luxembourg Institute for European and International Studies and the Pierre Werner Foundation to organize an international conference in Luxembourg on December 3-4, 1998, on the eve of the birth of the euro. At the outset we were aware that the issue of the euro went far beyond pure economics. Money, after all, is too important a subject to be left to economists.

The emergence of new powers fundamentally questions the traditional views on international relations, multilateralism or security as a range of countries now competes for regional and global leadership - economically, politically, technologically and militarily. As the focus of international attention shifts from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the European states in particular are seen to lose influence relative to the emerging economic powerhouses of China, Russia, India and Brazil. European nations find themselves too small to engage meaningfully with these continent-sized powers and, in an increasingly multipolar world are concerned their influence can only continue to decline. This book analyses the shifts in the structure of global power and examines the threats and opportunities they bring to Europe. Leading European Contributors reflect on how the EU can utilise collective strength to engage and compete with rapidly developing nations. They examine perceptions of the EU among the emerging powers and the true meaning and nature of any strategic partnerships negotiated. Finally they explore the shape and structure of the international system in the 21st century and how the EU can contribute to and shape it.

Reconfiguring European States in Crisis offers a ground-breaking analysis by some of Europe's leading political scientists, examining how the European national state and the European Union state have dealt with two sorts of changes in the last two decades. Firstly, the volume analyses the growth of performance measurement in government, the rise of new sorts of policy delivery agencies, the devolution of power to regions and cities, and the spread of neoliberal ideas in economic policy. The volume demonstrates how the rise of non-state controlled organizations and norms combine with Europeanization to reconfigure European states. Secondly, the volume focuses on how the current crises in fiscal policy, Brexit, security and terrorism, and migration through a borderless European Union have had dramatic effects on European states and will continue to do so.

"This book presents a new narrative on the Eurozone crisis. It argues that the common currency has the potential to kill the European Union, and the conventional wisdom that the Eurozone can be fixed by a common budget and further political integration is incorrect. The authors address key questions such as why the European Union and the single market have been successful, why the common currency poses a threat to European integration, and whether it is possible to either fix the Eurozone or dissolve it while keeping the EU and the single market. Contrary to the view that it would be best if the Southern European countries left the Eurozone first, the book makes the case that the optimal solution would be to start the process with the most competitive countries exiting first. The authors argue that a return to national currencies would be beneficial not only to the crisis-ridden southern countries, but also to France and Germany, which were the main promoters of the single currency. An organised unwinding of the Euro area would be beneficial both for the European economy and for Europe's main trading partners. The authors contend that to defend the Euro at all costs weakens the European economy and threatens the cohesion of the European Union. If pro-European and pro-market EU leaders do not dismantle the Eurozone, it will most likely be done by their anti-European and anti-market successors. If that happens, the European Union and the common market will be destroyed. This book will be a useful and engaging contribution to the existing literature in the fields of macro, monetary and international finance and economics"--