Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T21:49:59.368Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Euro: Past Successes and New Challenges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2020

Marco Buti  and
Paul van den Noord
Marco Buti*
Affiliation:
Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
Paul van den Noord*
Affiliation:
Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
*
e-mail [email protected]
e-mail [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The successes of the first decade of European Economic and Monetary Union are impressive, but it is fair to stress these were achieved in a relatively benign economic environment characterised by steady global growth, supportive financial conditions and fiscal windfalls associated with booms in asset markets. Although all this has come to an abrupt end with the financial crisis, there is a silver lining of fiscal stimulus being more effective in EMU than without the single currency, with offsetting exchange rate responses absent, trade multipliers stronger and the fiscal framework credible. But the financial crisis also clearly demonstrated the need for stronger coordination of national policy actions to internalise cross-border spillovers. Meanwhile, the European Commission has a major role to play in striking the right balance between short-term emergency measures and longer-term priorities. Against this backdrop, this article sheds light on the longer-run challenges and the policy agenda for meeting them.

Keywords

Monetary unioneconomic governanceEuropean UnionE60F50H00
Type
Articles
Information
National Institute Economic Review , Volume 208: Ten Years of EMU , April 2009 , pp. 68 - 85
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 National Institute of Economic and Social Research

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

∗

The authors have written this article in a personal capacity. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the European Commission.

References

Baldwin, R., DiNino, V., Fontagné, L., De Santis, R.A. and Taglioni, D. (2008), ‘Study on the impact of the euro on trade and foreign direct investment’, European Economy - Economic Papers, 321, European Commission.Google Scholar
Barrell, R., Gottschalk, S., Holland, D., Khoman, E., Liadze, I. and Pomerantz, O. (2008), ‘The impact of EMU on growth and employment’, European Economy - Economic Papers, 318, European Commission.Google Scholar
Bean, C. (1998), ‘The interaction of aggregate-demand policies and labour market reform’, Swedish Economic Policy Review, 5, pp. 353–82.Google Scholar
Bordo, M. and James, H. (2008), ‘A long-term perspective on the euro’, European Economy - Economic Papers, 307, European Commission.Google Scholar
Buti, M., Nogueira Martins and Turrini, A. (2007), ‘From deficits to debt and back: political incentives under numerical fiscal rules’, CESifo Economic Studies, 53, pp. 1125–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buti, M. and Sapir, A. (eds) (1998), Economic Policy in EMU - A Study by the Commission Services, Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
-(2002), EMU and Economic Policy in Europe - The Challenge of the Early Years, Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Buti, M., Turrini, A., van den Noord, P. and Biroli, P. (2009), ‘Defying the ‘Juncker Curse’: can reformist governments be re-elected?’, Empirica, 36(1), pp. 65–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calmfors, L. (2001), ‘Unemployment, labour market reform and monetary union’, Journal of Labor Economics, 19(2), pp. 265- 89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Larosière Group (2009), Report of the High-Level Group on Financial Supervision in the EU, Brussels.Google Scholar
Duval, R. (2005), ‘Fiscal positions, fiscal adjustment and structural reforms in labour and product markets’, in Deroose, S., Flores, E. and Turrini, A. (eds) (2005), Budgetary implications of structural reforms, European Economy - Economic Papers, no. 248, European Commission.Google Scholar
Duval, R. and Elmeskov, J. (2006), ‘The effects of EMU on structural reforms in labour and product markets’, ECB Working Paper Series, 596, European Central Bank.Google Scholar
European Commission (2007a), ‘The EU economy: 2007 review - moving Europe's productivity frontier’, European Economy, 8/ 2007.Google Scholar
-(2007b), ‘EU financial integration and Euro Area adjustment’, Quarterly Report on the Euro Area, 6(2), pp. 43–42.Google Scholar
-(2008b), ‘EMU@10, successes and challenges after ten years of economic and monetary union’, European Economy, 2/ 2008.Google Scholar
-(2008b), A European Economic Recovery Plan, COM (2008) 800.Google Scholar
Gayer, C. (2007), ‘A fresh look at business cycle synchronisation in the Euro Area’, European Economy - Economic Papers, 287, European Commission.Google Scholar
Havik, K., McMorrow, K., Röger, W. and Turrini, A. (2008), ‘EU- US productivity differences: a macro, sectoral and industry level perspective’, European Economy - Economic Papers, 339, European Commission.Google Scholar
Koen, V. and van den Noord, P. (2006), ‘Fiscal gimmickry in Europe: one-off measures and creative accounting’, in Wierts, P. et al. (eds), Fiscal policy surveillance in Europe, Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Turrini, A. (2008), ‘Fiscal policy and the cycle in the Euro Area: the role of government revenue and expenditure’, European Economy - Economic Papers, 323, European Commission.Google Scholar
Von Hagen, J. and Wyplosz, C. (2008), ‘EMU's decentralized system of fiscal policy’, European Economy - Economic Papers, 306, European Commission.Google Scholar