The Delors Committee’s three stage plan for attaining European Economic and Monetary Union has met with heavy criticism and has given rise to various counter-proposals. The following article examines the relative merits and shortcomings of the Delors Plan and the alternative concepts presented...

Since the beginning of the 1980s, an increase in the number of fixed-term employment contracts has been apparent in a number of free-market-oriented economies. This has been accompanied by amendments to the pertinent legislation. From the early to mid-1980s, a number of EC countries initiated...

Intensified efforts have been made in the EC in recent years to close the open flanks of its agricultural trade policy. The advocates of this not only believe that an import substitution policy will solve the problem of surpluses, the budget crisis and the grave income problems in the...

The question whether European Monetary Union should include all the EC countries from the start or should initially be limited to a few core countries is again being discussed more intensely. What advantages would a small EMU have from an economic point of view? Which countries should be its...

The planned broadening of the common internal market into an economic and monetary union as proposed in the Delors Plan means a significant qualitative leap in the process of European integration, which should ultimately lead to political union in Europe. Is this objective realistic? In what...

The debate on the concrete shape of the second stage of European economic and monetary union ist in full swing. What are the benefits that may be expected from EMU? What risks have to be avoided?

The British Government≐s proposal to develop the ECU gradually into a “hard” European currency has begun to be viewed in a more positive light. What principles are at the heart of this proposal? Does a “hard” ECU have advantages over the existing ECU? What are its chances as a parallel...

The poorer member states of the EC are often disappointed at what they see as a very limited degree of redistribution of resources away from the richer members towards the less well off. In a recent paper to the intergovernmental conference (IGC) on political union, for example, Spain calls for...

European Economic and Monetary Union is currently in the course of preparation by an inter-governmental conference. What are the benefits and risks associated with European monetary union? What essential requirements need to be fulfilled when the agreements are concluded?