Capital markets have undergone massive changes in the past decade; in Western Europe but of course more fundamentally in the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC). The euro has fostered the transformation of financial systems toward a more market based approach. Its impact in Eastern Europe...

This report explores some features of the social dimension of enlargement regarding the Southern EU-Member countries, namely Portugal, Spain and Italy. Economic theory suggests that integration may affect wages, employment and income distribution through changes on trade, FDI and migration...

After joining EU, the accession countries are expected to join the EMU and the euro-area. This cannot take place immediately after EU enlargement, as prior joining euro-area the accession countries should apply to the European Commission for entering EMU stage three and fulfil Maastricht...

This paper reviews the macroeconomic policies and performance of the three Nordic EU countries. The experiences of Denmark, Finland and Sweden from the turbulent economic developments of the 1990s and from adjusting their public sectors to fiscal consolidation are illustrating, not least for the...

The recent outset of European Monetary Integration with the introduction of a unique currency and a full centralization of monetary policy together with the increasing integration of global capital markets, stimulated a large body of research on monetary policy rules. Since Lucas' critique, the...

The coexistence in EMU of one common monetary policy and several domestic fiscal policies raises a number of problems of both academic and political interest. First, there are reasons to assess a hypothetical need to also centralise fiscal policies in such circumstances, according to what...