EMU Introduction May 5th, 1997   European Monetary Union 1997 is a critical year for EMU, as the economic performance in 1997 will determine which countries join EMU in January 1999. The financial markets still have not quite come to terms with all the details of EMU nor does it realize that this union is […]

Maastricht Treaty The following documents represent the full text of the Maastricht Treaty itself. They are provided here in HTML format for your reference. Introduction Title 1 Title 2 (Part I) Title 2 (Part II) Title 3 Title 4 Title 5 Title 6 Title 7 Final Act Protocols © Princeton Economic Institute

EMU Update, by Harry Groenert (12/97) Understanding the Euro, by Martin A. Armstrong (10/97) The Whirlpools of Union, by Bruce Allen (09/97) EMU – Days to Go!,by Bruce Allen (08/97) EMU Germany Update, by Harry Groenert (06/97) United We Stand/Together we Fall,by Bruce Allen (06/97) EMU – Update,by Martin A. Armstrong (05/97) Monetary Union Part II, […]

EMU Convergence Criteria privided by Princeton Economic Institute     Inflation: A price performance that is sustainable and an average rate of inflation, observed over a period of one year before the examination, that does not exceed by more than 1.5% that of, at most, the three best-performing member states in terms of price stability.Public […]

EMU Country Analysis Austria Belgium Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Portugal Spain Sweden United Kingdom © Princeton Economic Institute

Maastricht Treaty – Time Table    EMU Timetable 1997 January 1 Preparation of legal framework for European Central Bank, European System of Central Banks and the Euro Dutch assume EU presidency April Probable UK General Election Jul 1 Luxembourg’s presidency begins December Latest possible date for Irish General Election Year End Decision on EMU Start […]

Country Analysis United Kingdom The probability of the United Kingdom joining EMU at the start date is very high! The political shift from conservative to Labour in Britain has suddenly changed the course of the nation. The new Prime Minister, Tony Blair, will be up for the post of head of the EC in 1998. […]

Country Analysis Sweden The probability of Sweden joining EMU by the start date remains very low due to primarily to public opposition. Sweden’s huge budget deficit last year was widely viewed as the stumbling-block to any hope of early membership in the single currency. Recently, Sweden has been more successful in its fiscal consolidation program, […]

Country Analysis Spain The probability of Spain joining EMU by the start date is questionable at this time. Nevertheless, Spain has made the most impressive progress over the past several months of steering its economy towards meeting EMU criteria. It is unlikely that Spain would enter EMU without Portugal. Therefore, to some extent these two […]

Country Analysis Portugal   The probability of Portugal joining EMU from the start remains questionable at best. There is a possibility that Portugal could be in the first round based upon economic conditions. There is also a potential for gold sales to help bring its debt ratio into line. Overall, Portugal’s GDP growth is currently […]