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National Labour Market Institutions and the European Economic and Monetary Integration Process
Author(s) -
HEYLEN FREDDY,
POECK ANDRÉ VAN
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
jcms: journal of common market studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.54
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1468-5965
pISSN - 0021-9886
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-5965.1995.tb00551.x
Subject(s) - unification , convergence (economics) , economics , unemployment , obstacle , economic and monetary union , maastricht treaty , single market , pessimism , international economics , european union , european integration , economic system , macroeconomics , political science , philosophy , epistemology , computer science , law , programming language
This article investigates the role of national labour market institutions for the chances of successful transition to Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in Europe, as well as for its viability. The conclusions are rather pessimistic. Although overlooked by the Maastricht Treaty, the need for real convergence (convergence of unemployment rates) is emphasized as a major condition for success. However, current labour market institutions in the EU make it quite unlikely that this condition will be fulfilled. We show that the implementation of the Maastricht programme may instead turn into an obstacle to monetary unification.