EMU and the Cohesion Process

This paper studies the impact of economic and monetary union on the cohesion process, and specifically on the four cohesion countries - Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland. Trade integration, or economic union, is judged likely to promote cohesion. Monetary union has more ambiguous effects. The cohesion countries stand to gain more than the core in terms of real interest rate reductions, macroeconomic stability and development of the financial system.