List of Tables - Preface - PART 1: EUROPEAN MONETARY INTEGRATION: REASONS AND CONSEQUENCES - European Monetary Integration: Scope and Method - European Monetary Integration: A New Initiative - The Maastricht Treaty and Beyond - PART 2: THE NOTION OF CONVERGENCE - The Convergence Criteria: Price Stability - The Convergence Criteria: Budgetary Conditions - Exchange Rates and Interest Rates: An IPE Approach - The Convergence Criteria: Exchange Rates and Interest Rates: A European Perspective - An Elysian Harmony - Selected Bibliography - Index

This book provides a thorough knowledge of the nature of the convergence criteria which states must meet in order to qualify for accession to the future Economic and Monetary Union of Europe and comprehensive coverage of both the economic and political rationale of the criteria within the framework of an international political economy approach. Thus, throughout the course of the analysis, three questions in particular are addressed: first, what is the relationship between the economics and politics of the convergence criteria; second, how do domestic and international factors impact upon their future realisation; and third what, overall, is the role of the state. This book gives valuable insights into the Economic and Monetary Union debate.