Interlinkages between European Monetary Union and a future EU enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

This study looks at the interplay between European Monetary Union (EMU) and a future EU enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe. The country focus is on the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.The analysis concludes that EMU is improving the framework conditions for a future Eastern enlargement. Moreover, EMU in itself is becoming ever more relevant to the candidate countries from Central and Eastern Europe: The introduction of the euro and these countries' subsequent accession to the EU will alter their monetary and exchange rate policy frameworks.The EMU convergence criteria will not play a major role in the EU accession process.However, in the preaccession period, they should be viewed as medium- and longer-term points of reference for stability-oriented economic policymaking.