Euro Adoption in the New EU Member Countries: Speed Limits on a One-Way Road

This paper discusses the strategy of the Czech economic policy as regards the current enlargement process of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The authors discuss the validity of the Maastricht criteria for the new European Union (EU) member countries, as well as the risks and puzzles of both real and nominal convergence processes. The paper shows that current fiscal policy is the main limiting factor of the speed of the Czech Republic's entry into the EMU. The paper concludes by arguing that the Czech Republic should endeavor to join the EMU as quickly as possible.