The creation of the European Monetary Union (EMU) created the conditions for increased trade and economic growth for the member countries. The initial hypothesis regarding the impact of euro launch in terms of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows was that monetary integration will affect...

Between 1999 and the onset of the economic crisis in 2008 real exchange rates in Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain appreciated relative to the rest of the euro area. This divergence in competitiveness was reflected in the emergence of current account imbalances. Given that exchange rate...