European Monetary Union: Post-Maastricht Perspectives on Monetary and Real Integration in Europe

With the Maastricht Treaty signed on February 7, 1992, the EC member countries seemed to be heading not only for the single market as of January 1, 1993, but also towards monetary union by the end of the 1990s. However, within months the EC was facing (i) a confidence crisis on the side of market participants, (ii) an economic policy crisis in the sense of diverging views on the desired policy course in major EC countries and (iii) a growing concern that too rigid fiscal policy convergence criteria of the Maastricht Treaty would restrict the room to maneuver at the start of single market. The start of the single market was surprisingly characterized by slow growth and strong pressures for structural adjustment in all EC countries.