 Introduction: Business and EMUMark E. Duckenfield A chapter in Business and the Euro, 2006, pp 1-33 from Palgrave Macmillan Abstract: Abstract On 1 January 1999, eleven of the European Union’s fifteen members entered Stage Three of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) when they permanently locked their exchange rates and began pricing goods in both their old, national currencies and the new currency of the European Union, the euro. Four members (Britain, Sweden, Denmark, and Greece) remained outside the Euro-Zone, preserving their national currencies. In each member-state, EMU was a controversial issue, evoking both strong support and opposition amongst politicians, business, labour, academics, and the public at large. The strict budgetary criteria for participation in the launching of the euro — which prohibited large deficits and mandated substantial reductions in public debt — only deepened the controversy as political leaders sought to take the fiscal and monetary measures to ensure their governments fulfilled the criteria in the years before 1999. Even in member states that negotiated an opt-out to EMU, governments struggled over whether or not to exercise their derogation. Keywords: Monetary Policy; Economic Interest; Business Group; Monetary Union; National Currency (search for similar items in EconPapers) There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-62724-6_1 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan |
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