candidate countries from the EBRD's region of operations will become EU members by early 2004, in time to participate in the EU … become contingent on the success of internal reforms in the EU. Inadequate reforms of European institutions may also pose … obstacles to successful EU candidates that wish to join European Monetary Union (EMU) at an early date. The body making monetary …

The paper considers the implications for the EU accession candidates of Central and Eastern Europe of the fiscal …-financial constraints imposed by the Stability and Growth Pact and the Maastricht Treaty. Our findings apply also to those current EU … significantly from the EU average. We find the existing criteria to be seriously flawed and propose an alternative rule, the …