Economic Policy in EMU.Part A. Rules and Adjustment

In a little over one year, Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) will enter its third and final phase. As the date of 1st January 1999 approaches, the debate over European monetary unification is accelerating. The purpose of the present paper is to review and assess the recent debate. This review is deliberately selective. It focuses entirely on the functioning of the monetary union, leaving aside the issues of transition yoward the third stage of EMU, but includes some of the quesitons associated with its early years.